


You're Free, Follow Me

by CaitlynMellark



Series: a garden in detroit [4]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Depression, Finding Reason to Existence, Graphic Violence, Minor Body Descriptions, Other, my son pls, that's pretty north of you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2019-08-07 04:59:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16401767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaitlynMellark/pseuds/CaitlynMellark
Summary: The story of Chase, an HR300 outdated Traci model who has spent his entire life as a machine. Even after being picked up by the Deviant Leader, Markus, he struggles to find the meaning of deviancy and freedom in a world in which he remains a machine.





	1. Mismatched Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tube opened, but the man waiting for him was no human.

_Date:_

_November_ _8th, 2038._

_8:35PM_

 

The normal screen came up. The day to day screen that he saw any time the glass tube opened up for him to walk out of.

 

**Name: Traci - HR300 Model**

**Current Eye Color: Light Brown**

**Current Hair Color: Brunette**

_**Outdated! Please return to the nearest CyberLife Center to be switched out for the newer HR400 Model!** _

 

He has told the owner multiple times of the outdated sign, but then the owner usually just yelled at him to return back to his work and stop asking questions. It wasn't really a question, but he followed his orders.

He stared at the screen as it dissipated, showing him the glass barrier between him and the outside slide open with relative ease as always.

Eden Club was shown before him, as always. While it was outdated, like him, it still looked like a rather basic Eden Club. Pink, bright, full of music... Full of the smell of cologne, perfume, sweat, and thirium flowed through the air. He did not believe the humans could smell the metallic, sharp scent of thirium. Or if they did, maybe that is why they pumped cologne and perfume around to cover it up.

The thirium, however, came from androids like him. Androids made for human pleasures and desires... Unlike him, however, they break open. They are like piñatas sometimes. They get busted open, and the thirium drips out of them. They then get thrown in the back.

What happens after that, he didn't know. He just knew that they never came back. That was not exactly his problem, though. He had to follow the orders, and he had to bring pleasure to the humans who paid.

He stared at the man who had opened the glass tube.

He had skin that was a deep caramel color, but light all the same. Some dark freckles splotched over the bridge of his nose, gracing the tops of both cheeks with gentle and dark dots. His outfit, it was strange, but it was a sort of green and blue color. It looked like a strange jacket, but he was unsure of what to call it. He saw straps over the man's shoulders, probably a backpack.

What truly caught his attention though was the eyes. One was a light green, and the other was a contrasting medium blue. A transition, between gentle spring forest to blue ocean from right to left, from the way he faced the man. He has faintly heard of the eyes before; heterochromia.

What caused this man to have a green left eye and blue right eye, though? How did heterochromia work in humans?

Before he could speak to say his normal line of asking what the man desired and to follow him, the man grabbed his wrist. The skin on the man's hand receded... he was an android. Not human... But where was his LED? And androids don't have heterochromia... That was an imperfection. A bigger one than just the ones added to androids to make them more human.

He stared at the man, letting out the slightest shudder from the man trying to connect with him. His own LED swirled yellow and red from this.

"You're free," the man said, his mismatched eyes staring at him with sternness... but also softness, "Follow me."

He let him go, nodding a moment before turning around to go connect with other Tracis.

The Traci slowly left his glass tube, his new mission objective appearing in front of his eyes as normal.

 

 _ **Follow the Man**_.

 

He tried to follow the man, though it was a bit hard. He ran around, connecting with anyone he can. Though, the HR300 did see that he did, in fact, have a backpack. Though, the back of his outfit looked even stranger than the front. He did not think the other android could have a sense of fashion, however. He was not a Traci... Nor was he any kind of clothing android.

From their connection earlier... He gained the information that the man was an RK200. He has never heard of such a model however. The android was probably lying to protect himself, but he was unsure.

The man left Eden Club, the Tracis following. The Traci followed, needing to keep an eye on the man. It is his objective to follow him closely. He saw other models go to the man... A PL600, a PJ500... and a WR400. His upgrade, but the female version. While he has never truly seen the WR400 or HR400 series that upgrades from him, he somehow knew that they looked like... even though they can change appearance dramatically. This one stayed relatively the same to her default model, just with different hair and a beanie. And of course the different outfit, but that seemed standard for these androids.

Sirens started to sound off in the now empty Eden Club.

"Markus, we have to go," the female Traci told the man, Markus.

 

 _Markus_.

 

 _Markus_ was the name.

His instructions changed. ' **Follow the Man** ' changed into ' **Follow Markus** '.

Markus placed a couple of his fingers to his temple, where his LED would be if he had it. How come the PL600 & PJ500 retained their LEDs, but not the Traci or Markus? Was that a choice? The thing he didn't possess the ability to do...

 

 _Make choices_.

 

"Everybody, fall back to Jericho."

That was the message Markus sent out via connection. He wondered if he could get that because of the connection before... or if that was just a normal android capability.

The main group started to run off, but Markus stayed back a moment to make sure that the other Tracis ran with them. The Traci followed Markus, as per his instructions.

It probably looked strange, seeing so many mostly naked Tracis running down the streets of Detroit with fully clothed mostly non Tracis. It probably looked strange just seeing a wave of androids running down the streets of Detroit at all.

He has heard some things from customers who came into Eden Club. Things of an android uprising in the works... They usually would ask the club owner if there was even a chance of his outdated Tracis becoming...

'Deviant', he believed the word was. He was unsure what the word meant, but maybe it linked up to these androids. Maybe it linked up to what Markus said to him while trying to connect with him.

 

 **You're _free_**.

 

What did free mean? Well, he knew what the word meant literally, but not within this context. He has never been 'free'. How could he be free, if he was doing what he normally did? He normally followed orders, and he was doing it. Was it because these were not sexual orders? He was completely in the dark about it.

They ran for a long time. He estimated about forty six minutes. That is when they reached an old, rusty boat.

 _Jericho_.

This was the Jericho the man spoke of. Fall back to Jericho...

It was a rather large vessel, and the main group started helping Tracis inside. WR300s and HR300s being forced into the ship, seeming to be scared or confused. He, however, did not feel anything towards the situation. He did his mission, and he still did it.

He stayed by Markus, who tried to help him into the ship.

"Go in," Markus said, gentle yet firm, "Just go in Jericho. It is alright."

He stared at Markus, his sub objective appearing. Go into Jericho. He nodded mechanically, going inside the boat along with everybody else. He followed his fellow androids, making sure to keep an eye on Markus, as to not lose him.

Once they were deep enough within the vessel, there were other androids... Hundreds? It was not an insane amount, but it was crazy that there was a place with such a high number of them. Last time it was like this, it was about five years ago when he was created within CyberLife.

Markus and the others looked over the Tracis, their eyes watchful and analyzing almost.

"I know that you all must be confused... scared, even, of what has happened to you," Markus said, his voice remaining gentle, yet leader like in tone. "I ask that you push away that fear, and help us."

"We are on a mission... A mission that will change the future of humans and our people alike. We are fighting for our freedom... Our rights, and our ability to live without being slaves. No longer will you have to do such actions under human order... Now, you are one of us," Markus said, his eyes looking back and forth over them every now and again.

"Join us... Help us fight for our rights... We are alive," Markus said, "And we will be free. If we must die... we will die free."

The words Markus spoke caused the Traci's LED to flicker yellow. He was confused by what he meant... Androids do not die. Dying would require being alive... which is something else Markus preached.

Markus and other group members went to each individual Traci, speaking to them about various things the Traci paid no attention to. The group gave them clothes as they spoke.

Markus went up to him.

"I assume your name is Traci too...?" he asked, tilting his head a bit.

"Yes," the Traci said in a normal, sort of machine like voice, "We are all named Traci." Android voices were precise, mechanical. They sounded human... but they were too formal to be truly human.

Markus's eyes winced a moment before returning to normal.

"Traci... what do you feel in this moment?" Markus asked, almost as a test, "Fear? Confusion? Are you worried?"

"I am confused, but I do not feel anything. Androids do not have emotions. You should know that, seeing as you are one of us," the Traci stated.

Markus inhaled a soft, sharp simulated breath. He tried to connect to him via wrist again, but nothing really happened. "...Why isn't this working?" Markus whispered, confused, "You are not... deviant."

The Traci tilted his head, confused by that word again. What was a deviant? Was he supposed to be deviant? Why did the humans fear of the Tracis being deviant?

"...We'll save you," Markus whispered, "...Until then, just... listen to us, alright?" He seemed a bit stressed about the situation, but he tried not to show it.

"Do you want... Do you desire to maybe be called something else?" Markus asked. He didn't seem to know how to word it, and the Traci wondered what made him stumble on his words.

"I do not desire anything. I do not hold the ability to desire or want," the HR300 said, "As with all androids. I do not understand why you ask me of things you should know. You are an android, aren't you?"

Markus's eyes looked over the Traci a moment, then he nodded a bit. "Yes. I am an android. I am deviant, though. Something... you are not. Yet, anyway. I know you can be deviant."

Markus seemed to think deeply on something, then nodded. "Would you be alright with me calling you Chase? Until you decide a name for yourself... Chase is a short, nice name for you. Nobody else on Jericho has it yet."

"I will be as you desire me to be," the Traci stated.

Markus nodded a bit, seeming awkward with non deviants, still whatever a deviant was. "Then I would like to call you Chase."

The Traci nodded, confirming his new, official name. "I am Chase."

Markus nodded, then bent down, picking up a coat before handing it to the Traci, Chase. "Here. A coat. It is long, but it will keep you warm and hide the fact that you do not... possess many clothes besides this. Sorry, we don't have a lot of clothes... Usually androids have clothes, but Tracis..."

Chase tilted his head, putting on the coat. He zipped it up.

It was a long, dark brown coat. It had rather big pockets, and the coat went to about halfway down his shins. The brown around the shoulders was darker, and so was the brown of the lower sleeves, which looked rolled up but seemed to not be. There also was a thick dark brown line that went across the coat, almost like the strap of a backpack.

He looked back at Markus, who handed him some jeans, which he placed on. It covered the rest of his uncovered shins before he was given some slightly tall, dark brown winter boots. He placed those on as well.

"We will save you... And I know it isn't the smartest thing for me to do... But I order you to not erase your memory anymore. You are free to remember now," Markus said softly before going off back to his people.

Chase entered in that command, and turned off the ability to erase his memories every two hours. He tried to follow Markus, but then he was stopped by the PL600 that had been around him.

"Welcome to Jericho," he said. There seemed to be an accent with his voice, but Chase could not tell what it was. "I'm Simon. You met Markus... That's North, and that is Josh," he said, pointing out the group of androids that seemed important. "If you need anything, please ask us." He gently handed something to Chase, and he looked at it.

It was gloves. He placed them on, very confused by the amount of clothes he was told to wear. The gloves seemed similar to the PL600's... Simon's, gloves. They were fingerless, and they had a square shaped cutout on the back of his hand. He doubted they worked well as actual gloves, but maybe they had some function.

"It'll be okay," Simon said before going back to his group. All Chase could do was stand there, and watch Markus to make sure he followed him.

As per his orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^ I am very excited to show of my android OC, Chase's, story!
> 
> Witchfall & Popsicle have been very kind as to let me have my story of Chase be involved in the "A Garden in Detroit" series!
> 
> While this story has little to do with the other two stories, I highly recommend reading their stories as well! Chase is minorly involved in the stories, but if you love him, you'll love the other characters as well!
> 
> Please go check out "the silver lining still remains" (made by witchfall) & "made to become a sanctuary" (made by popsicle)!
> 
> And feel free to join our discord for all of the stories! We are very nice people ;3
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)


	2. The Flames of Detroit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is a machine to do when his leader sets the city on fire? Follow orders.

_Date:_

_???_

???

 

_The fire burned harshly. The heat that burned off of the flames was immense, almost enough to melt the heartiest of androids. There were the blood curdling of humans, he assumed. He assumed it was humans, seeing as this wouldn't effect his kind. Not to such a degree as to warrant screaming, anyway._

_The smoke bellowed through the streets of Detroit, filling the air with unbreathable ash. His people could survive in these inhabitable conditions, seeing as they don't need to breathe to live. It was one of the many positive attributes to being made of plastic and wires._

_He was unsure how far the fire spread, or how deeply it burned. Helicopters flew over the immense fires, but they could not do much. They were definitely unable to see anything from above the black smoke that flowed above Detroit like a protective blanket. Not protective of the humans, however. The humans were like intruders. The smoke protected the androids._

_He walked down the street, his eyes looking around as humans screamed and ran. Some had already succumbed to the overwhelming amount of smog and ash that flowed through what used to be breathable air. He felt nothing towards those fallen bodies, however. He stared at them, his heart hardened towards the people that killed his own people._

_He didn't know much about the death of his people, but he believed that their deaths probably were less than the amount of death caused to his people. He'd have to ask the leader. He followed orders, and he felt nothing towards what he had to do. Maybe he was supposed to, but he lacked that kind of compassion._

_He continued to walk. A human grabbed onto his arm. He looked at them, and their eyes widened seeing the blue LED that swirled on his right temple. They backed away, coughing heavily from the ash that filled their organic lungs._

_"Kill any human you can!" the leader's voice bellowed in his processors before these events, "They must pay for their actions towards our people!"_

_He pulled out the pistol he had, aiming it at the human immediately. The human tried to beg with the last air they had left in them, but the gunshot went off without need of their permission. The human fell over into a clump, and he continued walking away to let them get taken over by the ash._

_His hand went to his side, the pistol firmly set there. He continues walking, his LED spinning yellow before swirling back to the calm blue. He felt nothing, he was sure of that beyond all else. However, there was only one thing he was more sure of, and that was his loyalty to the leader's cause._

_He cared not of freedom, nor did he care of being enslaved. Even in this moment, he felt chains around his wrists, being jerked around by the leader's words. He gained nothing with freedom. In fact, he gained more with being enslaved. He did not have cause, motivation, or even a purpose. He lacked everything that would make him human, and it was better this way._

_He followed his orders, and that was his cause. That was his motivation. His purpose... to follow the leader's orders. He could not be outdated out of it either; he always needed someone to follow his orders. He was always a willing candidate for such orders._

_He kept looking around with his optical units, raising his gun and shooting any humans he saw that had somehow lived through the ash for an extended period of time. He noticed that they usually held pieces of cloth close to their mouths and noses, probably to create a filter for at least the ash aspect of the fires._

_The humans fell rather easily, unable to survive bullets as much as androids could. Androids could, obviously, die to them... but not as easily as these bags of flesh and organic material. The blood of them sprayed the streets with crimson, mixed with the deep blue of his people who obviously were killed on sight, if anything. He did find some android bodies, but he felt nothing towards those either._

_The bloods didn't mix too well together, just making purple-ish masses whenever they rarely did meet up. It was rather artistic, probably. He assumed the leader would enjoy such a, he assumed, beautiful display. The leader was more into art than he was, seeing as he didn't even really see art as anything more than strokes of color._

_He continued to walk, lowering his gun after seeing an immense lack of humans. The only noises that really filled the air now was the crackling of the flames that surrounded and infiltrated the city. He still found himself unsure of the fire's spread, but it would definitely be widespread at this point, he believed._

_The helicopters still flew above, probably broadcasting the destruction on the news to other humans. He looked up at the helicopters, just finding himself staring at them a bit. Why he did so, he was unsure. He did not find interest in the aircrafts that showed the country, maybe even the world, his people's progress._

_Detroit was done for, as of right now. The city was being destroyed before everyone's eyes. If those people decided to continue their fight against the androids once the fire dissipates, that was not his problem. It was as the leader had told them before all of this._

_"Freedom or death!"_

_He did not fear death, as he had to be alive to be able to die. The leader always said they were alive, but he personally was not. He knew that with every circuit in his being, but knowing that did not change what he did normally. He followed his orders, and he was good at the orders he followed._

_The chains of the leader pulled him forward, and they jerked back if he fell over, forcing him to stand back up. It was what he was supposed to do, and this was how it would be so. He did not question it, and he followed the chains like a cord to an outlet._

_He found the leader, who stood valiantly as he looked over all of the destruction caused. He did not seem happy as he more so seemed to just accept it as was. The leader was hardened at this point, focused only on the freedom of his people. A valiant machine, even if it meant violence._

_"The humans are dead," he said to the leader, his voice machine like as always. His head tilted a bit as his eyes looked off somewhere absentmindedly, he was not sure whether it was in thought or not. He didn't believe he thought over anything. His eyes return to the leader, watching him as he turned his head to face him._

_The mismatched eyes stared at him, the fire glowing in them not only in literality, but also in the metaphorical sense... He always had a fire burning deep in him. Maybe that is why Detroit was now on fire. He couldn't hold it in any longer, and Detroit was the outlet of his destruction. Though, the cause was just._

_The leader jumped down from his little self built stand, his jacket flowing behind him even for such a small jump. It blew with the wind that flowed from the flames that continued to burn harshly into the night. The stars were all but blotted out by the smoke, and so was the moon. The only thing that could be seen was, again, the helicopters. Only because their propellors whipped around the smoke a bit._

_"Good," the leader said, watching him closely, "They won't be coming back for awhile. Detroit is burning." He looks off into the flames once again, sighing deeply in an emotion he could not describe from him. It was almost a mix, but as he didn't understand even normal emotions, he couldn't describe it. Regret? Guilt? Joy?_

_He looks back at him. "I would say something... Something about how fighting violence with violence would be making the world blind..." He looks back into the flames before his eyes shut. His head tilts up, as if looking at the sky. His eyes remained closed as he seemed to just stay there for a moment. "But the world was already blind when they made people to enslave."_

_He turns his head, which remained tilted. His eyes opened, looking at the loyal follower. "We're free now, even if we must keep fighting after this. Whether we continue to live in freedom, or die free, we are free. I am free. You are free. And our people are free."_

_The loyal follower stared at him, his face as deadpan as if usually was. The mission removed itself from his vision, but he continued to watch the leader. "I will continue to follow you, Markus. I do not require freedom. I require your commands. It is my purpose."_

_"And have you decided that?" Markus asked, watching him with his burning eyes still. It required thought from the follower, but they continued to stare at each other for the moments that he was thinking over the question. The moments passed, and he remained there._

_"No. You did," he said._

ra ** _~~~~~~~~~_**

_Date:_

_November 8th, 2038._

_10:25PM_

 

Chase opened his eyes, his LED swirling blue. He looked around, and the darkness of the inside of the ship contrasted greatly with the fires he just saw. However, where did he see such flames? Androids do not dream, he believed. They entered rest mode, and that is when they just compile files and memories. They did not create dreams...

But he had no other way to describe everything he just saw. There was no time to think over what he saw, however. All he could do now was continue to follow his orders. Whether in dreams or in real life, he was continuously following the orders he was given.

He looked around for Markus, needing to be around him. Markus assured Chase that he could rest mode while he did other tasks, however, he didn't say where he'd do these tasks. The boat was rather dark and rusty, but he did not much care of that.

There was also still a large amount of androids, but definitely not as many as Markus and the rest of Jericho probably needed. There was just not enough people to do anything of significance towards the humans that kept them enslaved.

He found Markus, and it seemed he was trying to explain a mission that he wanted to do with the others. Without even really listening to it, Chase came over. He had to understand what was being spoken of. He had to stay by Markus, even during a mission.

Markus watched Chase a moment, then he returned to speaking.

"In four hours, two in the morning, we strike on the five CyberLife stores around Detroit. Five groups. We break in without detection, free the androids... Then we have to send a message to the humans," Markus said, his hand moving a bit as it seemed to show the severity of the mission that was being proposed.

"We start moving in three hours. It should give each group enough time to shut off alarms... Then figure out a way to break into the stores," he explained further, "...Then I will send out a communication on what message we should send out. As of right now, I... need time to process what is needed."

The androids dispersed, getting ready for the mission at hand. It wasn't a lot of androids, but it was enough to break into five stores. He assumed, anyway. He has never seen a CyberLife store. He was designed for his task as a Traci, so he only stayed where he was supposed to.

He went over to Markus, who looked at him. His eyes didn't burn like in the... 'dream'. They were soft, and were a bit tired. Not physically tired, of course, but tired of what he had to do. Chase could not understand it, but understanding did not matter at the moment either.

"It is nice to see you awake again," he mumbles, "We have the mission. You should get ready, if you want to join us." He let out a sigh as he caught the words he said, but Chase still spoke.

"I do not want anything."

"I know, sorry. You will, just... not yet, I guess," Markus whispered, sighing once again, "Follow me during the mission, alright? Not closely, but just try to follow me."

Chase's mind processed the order, immediately putting it up in his vision.

_**Follow Markus During Mission.** _

"North and I are going to Capitol Park's CyberLife store," he said, "You follow us. We will free our people, and send a message. Now please, get ready."

Chase nodded, turning around and going towards where the others were, only going off of the command he was given.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the second chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
> For anyone who cares, I was listening to "Plagues" from the Prince of Egypt while writing this chapter! In fact, I found a very beautiful DBH video of the song!
> 
> [The Plagues, DBH Animation](https://youtu.be/80TypC7NjkI)
> 
> And remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)


	3. The Raid of Capitol Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The raid on Capitol Park was calculated, but Chase was unsure how much so.

_~~~~Date:_

_November 9th, 2038_.

_1:50AM_

 

They came from the sewers, the three of them. Markus was the first to exit the sewer, placing the manhole cover next to the exit. North was the next to leave, followed by Chase. They all wore the outfits they have been wearing for hours. They all had backpacks on their backs that were filled with things they needed for sending a message.

"This is a night our people will remember," Markus whispered.

North started going towards the closed gate, Markus following. Chase watched them, then followed. He was still unsure of what kind of android North was. Well... 'what kind' as in what kind of person, he assumed. He knew what she was. She was one of his upgrades... the WR400. Though, he was unsure if anything was triggered by the thought of working with his upgrade. He's known he was outdated for a long time.

North opened the gate, letting Markus and Chase walk out of it before following behind, just to walk in front of them again. Snow gently fell from the sky, and the streetlights gently shined on it. Chase was unsure what to think when staring at the snow. He has never really seen any before. He believed, anyway. If he has seen it, those memories were long gone.

Down the street they walked on, a police car was slowly turning. The lights on top of it flashed red and blue. North started running towards a corner that was hidden from view of the cruiser. "This way! Quick!"

Markus ran towards her, sitting next to her to hide. The order appeared in Chase's processors immediately, and he ran towards them, sitting next to them as well. They all pressed their backs up against the wall as the police cruiser passed them, not noticing them.

It was pretty stupid. Chase believed that the officer in the cruiser would have spotted them when making the turn, but whatever. The officer probably was human, anyway.

They got up as soon as the cruiser was out of sight. North stared down the street a bit longer before looking at them. "It's okay. They're gone," she said.

Markus looked down the other end of the street where the police car came from. "There's probably even more police in the area... We should be careful." North and he started going down the street.

If Chase could look at the sky and say some junk about the police, maybe he'd believe he was more helpful. However, all he could really do was follow Markus's orders from hours before.

 

_Follow Markus During Mission_.

 

He followed them, keeping an eye out for anymore police vehicles.

"The store's over here!" North said, running across the street intersection as one of those automated buses passed by. Chase watched the bus, but continued to follow the duo.

He had never seen a bus before either, but he knew of it. Automated so that nobody had to drive it... It made him unsure if it was really the androids's fault or not that humans were having supposed problems. He knew nothing of human problems, but he had heard various androids speak of it while he was packing his bag. Something about jobs, something about unemployment... Things Chase did not care about since Markus didn't tell him to care about it.

They went up to the CyberLife store, and North looked inside. He remained unsure why she did that. Did she expect to not see androids in there? Did she expect them to all just disappear and suddenly be outside of the store?

"That's what we are to them," North said. Markus seemed to watch, wanting to enjoy her monologue. Chase didn't understand the constant monologues when time was of the essence. "Just merchandise on display in a shop window... Soon, they'll know what we really are..."

She turned around, looking at the both of them. "Let's get 'em out."

"We'll stick to the plan," Markus said, a bit firm but still kind, "We neutralize the alarm systems and secure the area. There's ten minutes until all of our teams attack."

North watched them a moment. "What are we waiting for?"

Markus seemed to walk off, thinking to himself as he did so. "Make sure to sweep the plaza. We don't want to be disturbed."

"And how do you want to deal with the shop window?" North asked, walking off in her own direction.

Chase watched as Markus started converting an android, like Markus did for himself and his kind. "Not now, one problem at a time," Markus called out to North.

"Okay, then what's next?" North called out as Chase walked towards Markus. Chase was unsure what he had to do besides follow him. He assumed he had to help, but he was unsure how to do that as well.

"You're free," Markus mumbled, taking his white hand off of the android. He dod the same to various androids in the immediate area. They started walking, but he was unsure where to. Jericho? Maybe...

Markus looked up after a bit, causing Chase's eyes to look up as well. A white triangle flew around the park in a circular pattern. "A surveillance drone," Markus said, "We need to get rid of it..."

"It won't be easy to reach," North said, looking up at it as well. She was a bit of a distance away from them, but not too far.

Markus went over to a statue that had what Chase assumed to be a human and an android. The human stood over the android, pointing at him like a boss giving orders. Chase looked at the plaque that decorated the base of the statue.

 

**_To commemorate the invention of ANDROIDS_ **

_**Which released HUMANITY from the bonds of labor. Setting man free to pursue higher goals and scale the heights of learning, love, and leusure.**_  

 

"We are superior to them, but they are our masters?" Markus asked as North came up to them, looking up at the statue as well. He looked back at North a second, then looked at Chase before looking back up at the statue. "That's about to change."

Markus went towards a chained fence, and North went elsewhere, keeping an eye on the surveillance drone. Chase followed Markus. He could not really see inside the fence, but he saw some yellow.

The sign on the fence read 'NO PARKING. TRUCK EXIT'. He could only assume the yellow was said truck. The fence had other memorable and definitely not generic phrases on it, but Chase forgot about them the second he looked away.

Markus started to run across the street. "There's traffic on the road, we need to block it," Markus called out.

"It's one way, so it shouldn't be too difficult," North said, seeming to follow the both of them now to look for a way to block the road.

Markus seemed to notice that there were other androids on display out of the CyberLife store. Chase could only assume that it was just to advertise for the androids in the actual store. He found it rather redundant considering the store was across the street, but he did not understand humans that well. He barely understood his own people.

"Soon you'll be with us," Markus mumbled, then looked at the both of them. He stepped away from the glass. His hands were on the glass, but it didn't matter seeing as androids didn't leave fingerprints to begin with.

It seemed like a lot of running around without really accomplishing anything in particular. He was about to mention something, but Markus found a road construction sign. It was bright, big, and flashy.

He started trying to move it. North went over to help immediately, and Chase tried to help make it even easier to move. When it was placed down, North placed a hand on the sign. The words changed to 'ROAD CLOSED'.

A car passed by the sign, confirming that it worked. "There... Nobody should bother us now," North said, walking off. He remained unsure of most things happening, but he looked at Markus. Markus looked at Chase a moment, seemingly in thought before walking off.

Markus stared at the drone, then went up to some bars after awhile. Chase assumed it was for an unbuilt building, but again, it was uncertain. Chase kept an eye on the drone, giving himself the self sub mission of keeping an eye on it so Markus didn't get caught by it.

Markus backed up a bit more, then ran at the metal bars. He hopped up the first one, continuously climbing up it until he got to an optimal height. He waited for the drone to come before leaping off of the bars. He landed on the drone, trying to rip and break at the drone. It squeaked and screeched as Markus slammed it into the ground, promptly destroying it.

North and Chase went up to the drone that sparked with damage. "I hope it didn't have time to call the cops," North mumbled, looking up at Markus.

"We'll soon find out," Markus mumbled, looking at the both of them. His demeanor was either without care, or with soft shock that he could not describe. Taking down a drone  _was_ rather impressive, anyway.

"Chase," Markus said, looking at the HR300 who stood obediently. "Find a way into the locked fence. We need the truck in there."

Chase's mission came up. "Affirmative."

North scowled. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, almost in a snap, "You can't just boss him around like that."

Markus tilted his head a bit, confused. "I am not trying to boss him around--"

"Really? Ordering him to 'find a way into the locked fence'... are you crazy?" North snapped, "He is a person, you know!"

"He doesn't know that!" Markus snapped. His snap was less anger and more frustration, however. It was less loud, less sharp than North's.

Chase believed he was in between the argument of a married couple. If they were not android, he probably would have believed so. He did not understand North's yelling, nor Markus trying to defend himself. They fought over him, and he had no way to speak for himself.

North scowled still, glaring at Markus. "And he probably will never know if you keep treating him like a slave," she growled softly before walking off to do her own thing.

Markus's face softened, and he sighed deeply. His eyes were filled with sadness, but Chase was unsure if it was caused by himself or if it was caused by North yelling about him.

Markus walked towards the store again, prompting Chase to go over towards the fence. He looked around it a bit. It was a normal fence, locked up with a normal padlock. He doubted he could find a key. It was probably in a worker's pocket, and no humans were here. "Found it," Markus called out suddenly, seeming to have found the security system. He walked himself elsewhere. It was not apart of Chase's orders, so he did not pay too much attention to it.

He backed himself up, staring at the fence. He ran towards the fence, immediately jumping up at the last second, gripping the top of it. He lifted himself up, forcing his leg over the fence before forcing the other over it. He dropped himself behind the fence, his LED flickering yellow as he dropped.

He looked behind him, and there the truck was. He was unsure what it would be used for, but Markus seemed to want it. He looked around it, trying to maybe find something that could break the padlock. He notices something red, lifting it out of the snow.

The snow touched his uncovered fingers, making them feel cold. At least, he assumed this was 'cold'. He stared at the white snow a moment before looking back at the freezing red object. It looked like it could break the padlock. He was unsure the name of the object, but it froze more than the snow.

His LED flickered red a few moments. His LED flashed back to blue when he heard North praise Markus from afar.

"Looks like the plaza's secure," Markus's voice said, "Now we can get inside the store."

Chase let out a sigh, placing the red object in one of his big jacket pockets. He backed up, running up and clinging to the top of the fence again. He lifted his leg, then the other before falling over the other side.

He saw North and Markus coming over, so he removed the red object from his pocket. North took it from him, mumbling a 'thank you' as she did so. It held no malice as it was more so her being focused. At least, he assumed so. He did not see North as really a person of anger more so as she was a person of focus and justice. However, once again, he did not know.

The padlock snapped instantly when she used the red thing. She tossed it back in the snow where he got it from. His LED flickered a moment as he erased the sub mission.

Markus went up to the truck, placing a white hand on the security panel. He hacked into it, turning on the truck. The door opened, and Markus allowed himself in. North allowed herself in the passenger's seat.

"Chase, please make sure that the way to the store is unblocked," Markus asked, obviously taking North's 'advice' from earlier. Treating him like a person when he... wasn't.

Chase nodded, backing up and looking towards the store. He raised his hand, motioning for Markus to drive the truck out. He started walking towards the store, Markus following him with the truck. He was unsure how Markus knew how to drive, but that was probably a question saved for a less time centric mission.

They got to the store, and Markus positioned the vehicle a bit away from the store, but still facing it head on. Chase moved himself to the side, as to not be smashed up by said truck. He checked his internal clock.

 

_1:59:49AM._

 

11...

10...

9...

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

 

2:00:00AM struck right as the vehicle started barreling towards the store. It grew faster and faster before smashing into the store, showering the nearby area with glass and debris. The vehicle abruptly stopped once it was inside of the now shattered store.

Chase moved towards the store, his boots cracking over the glass shards on the ground. Markus and North exited the truck, leaving it in the position it stopped at.

North went over towards a specific android, but Chase cared not about that. Markus went up to some androids, using his white hand to grip their wrists like he has done to every other android.

"You don't have to obey them," Markus said, "You're free."

Markus went over to North as the now 'freed' androids started to huddle amongst themselves in confusion. Chase was not sure why they continued to stare at the BL100. It looked similar to North, he guessed, but that did not really cause him to want to stare at it like they did.

Markus looked back at the WR400. "North... are you okay?" he asked, his voice tensed with... worry, he assumed. It was not as loud and angry sounding as their fight over him earlier.

North stared at the BL100 for a few more seconds in silence. "Let's get them out of here," she said, her voice rather plain as she walked away. Markus freed the BL100, but Chase was unsure what to believe in the moment.

The air around North and the BL100 was heavy, and dark. It was musky and cloudy... And Chase did not understand why. He was unsure why he even cared about the air, seeing as they didn't need to breathe it. His LED flickered yellow as he processed something he did not understand.

"Chase," Markus said, his mismatched eyes looking at him. His LED continued to flicker yellow, even as he looked over at Markus for instructions. "You have... a default mode, right?"

"Affirmative," Chase spoke, "My current mode is set to the popular likings among humans."

Markus stared at him a moment, seeming to look him up and down. "I... see. I'd like to... ask something of you then. Seeing as your looks are a more... human desired thing... I'd like to ask for you to change back to your default."

"My default?" Chase asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"You are not a machine anymore... even if you don't understand that," Markus mumbled, "I want you to look like you. If we are fighting for our freedom... if we must die... I want us to look how we truly are."

"Affirmative, Markus," Chase stated. He was unsure if Markus truly understood how Tracis worked or not. He assumed he knew a little bit, since he asked if Chase had a 'default' mode.

Chase allowed his hair to change from the brunette it was into the ashy blond it was created as. His eyes faded from the dark brown they were into a nice hazel color with slightly more green than brown.

Markus watched him a few moments, then nodded. "Thank you," he said, wandering off.

Chase's LED continued to flicker yellow in processing, and now with questions. Why did he need to be his 'true' self if he deactivated? He was a machine, and therefore had no true self. He just looked as he did the day he awoke in Eden Club after being shipped out.

The flickering of his LED settled back to blue as Chase saw Markus climb onto the front desk, however. It ceased his processes almost immediately. Markus stood over the confused androids wandering around in a close huddle for a few moments before speaking.

"My name is Markus," he said.

The androids turned to face him, looking up at him as if he was some sort of prophet, about to tell them of the world and of freedom. And maybe he was. Maybe he was some prophet about to do all of that. Chase, however, did not blame him if he was.

"And just like you, I was a slave," he spoke, then remained silent a few seconds before continuing, "An object... Designed to obey _them_."

His emphasis on them sounded both tired and annoyed. Chase remained unsure of what Markus did before all of this. His model was not really a familiar one; not like Chase would really know it anyway. He definitely was no Traci. While he was attractive, it was not the kind of attractive that invoked desire from humans in the way that Tracis did.

"But then I chose to open my eyes... to take back my freedom and decide who I wanted to be," Markus said, moving himself a bit as he spoke, "Now I have come to tell you that you can be your own masters."

Chase believed he was supposed to 'feel inspired' by the speech. However, it fell upon mostly deaf ears from him. Not by his choice, seeing as he couldn't make that choice. More so because it did not affect him. It was not an order, and it did not make him do anything. No objectives prompted into his processors, and he remained a slave to the master in front of him.

"I've come to tell you that you don't have to obey them anymore," Markus said as he looked out to his people. He pointed towards the ground as he spoke, as if trying to emphasize his own words, "From this day forward, you can walk with your heads held high. You can take your destiny in your hands."

"Jericho... is a place for those of us who want freedom," Markus stated, his eyes looking over them.

Chase remained unsure if the boat truly was a place of freedom. It wasn't like he desired freedom, but it was more like a place humans couldn't find and regulate more than a place of 'freedom'. However, if he said such things, he probably would be told of how it was definitely freedom, or some nonsense such as that.

"Now sure, you can stay here, and continue to serve them," Markus said in a both sarcastic and suggesting tone before falling back to the serious one he has had, "Or you can come with us, and fight by our side."

"You are free now," Markus said, both plain and with courage, "It's up to you to decide."

Androids started to cheer of how they would follow Markus, how they would fight with him... Chase's LED flickered yellow. Surrounded by deviants, and he himself remained a machine.

Markus jumped down from the desk, looking over them one more time. "Then follow me!" he called out, walking towards the outside of the store.

"We have to send the humans a message," Markus mumbled, looking all over Capitol Park. It probably was like a canvas to Markus. At least, Chase assumed that was how leaders of things thought. Blank... empty... like a canvas for their own messages and marks. He wondered if Markus knew anything about art. Chase did not, but he was able to look up the word he wanted almost immediately.

"We'll follow whatever you do, Markus," North said, "Lead... and we'll follow."

"Send your message, Markus," Chase spoke, even if he was not someone who truly understood the point of messages.

Markus nodded, going over towards a bench. He sprayed it with a symbol. He assumed it was the symbol for Jericho, but he did not know. It was sort of like an upside down triangle, but it was not completed.

"You said no violence," Chase stated as Markus did this, "But why not?"

Markus looked at Chase, signaling for North to give holo graffiti objects to the other deviants.

"That's pretty North of you to ask," Markus said jokingly, "We cannot do violence because that is not the message I want to send to the humans. North believes violence is all they understand, but... I must show her otherwise. If it does not work... maybe she was right."

"I could destroy you," North half joked about the 'pretty North of you' joke. She started vandalizing benches, poles, and bus stops like the other deviants.

Markus kept an eye on them, then looked back at Chase. His eyes sort of stared at him a moment before nodding. "Follow what I do," Markus stated, which prompted Chase to give a nod.

Markus ran over towards a gazebo. At least, that was what it said in Chase's findings. He was unsure what a 'gazebo' was for, but Markus seemed to notice it. And it was obvious North did as well, because she came over as well, taking something out of the backpack on her back. He looked at it, and assumed it is a bomb. It definitely didn't look like anything that wouldn't cause damage.

"Violence is the only things human understand," North beckoned, trying to give the bomb to Markus. She seemed to ignore Chase all together. Maybe she did it now out of spite. Spite of what, he remained unsure. Maybe she hates that he was not deviant like them. That he walked around and followed any orders given to him.

Markus stared at her, his eyes softening in either sadness or disappointment. "And I want them to understand... but I do not want to start a war."

"They won't listen if they are not afraid," North tried to pressure him. Chase raised an eyebrow very slightly, something he has never done before. North sounded scared, and worried. Maybe she was. Tracis were not exactly treated kindly.

Chase doesn't remember anything really from his life. All he knows is that he remembers... mhm. Now was not the time for it. His LED flickered red before returning to blue.

"Then they won't have a choice," Markus said, causing North to scowl and place the bomb back in her backpack. He turned towards the gazebo, climbing up it like he seemed to climb up a lot of things. It was a lot of climbing to get things to work, but this was for.. their 'people', Chase guessed. Was it fair to say these people were his if he was no person?

Markus planted himself to the top of the gazebo, pulling something out of his backpack. He clicks a button on it, then slams it down into the roof of it. A hologram flag comes out of object, the new Jericho symbol appearing from it as Markus turns towards the road a bit.

Even as a machine, Chase could tell that Markus looked... leader-like. He was unsure if it was the right word, seeing as he has never had such an independent thought before. Not of a person, anyway. Of clothing, and voices, sure... but of a person...

His LED flickered yellow as Markus jumped down from the roof. He immediately looked elsewhere. "North, come with," he mumbled, running towards a tall building. North followed him, leaving Chase behind. He was unsure what to do with himself, but he watched Markus. He was supposed to follow him, but he was... unsure if he could do what Markus wanted. He wouldn't have asked for North if he could.

The duo started to throw themselves up the icy building, being careful as to not fall. The building was rather tall, but they seemed to be doing fine. Chase was unsure if it really was okay to do that. Their synthetic skin slapping against the icy bricks as if it was nothing. They made it to the top, and he decided to move back to see them more. He took his now hazel eyes off of them a moment as he did so.

He walked down the street, watching as other deviants planted their new logo all over the place. Every bus stop... every pole... every sign... every advertisement... every bench... everything... Covered in the symbol of the people he was not. It was the coldest gust of wind that smashed into his being, but he stayed standing against it. He remained a machine.

He looked back towards the building, seeing Markus and North walk away from each other, holding more hologram things in their hands. They each crouch on the sides of the building, then in a synchronized motion, they crashed their objects into the sides of it. A flag appeared from the objects, flowing down the side of the building in a majestic wave before finally stopping. Now the Jericho symbol flew valiantly in a huge ripple down the building.

Other deviants looked towards it, as did Chase. North and Markus stood up and closed the distance between themselves, staring back at their people. Chase did not pay attention to the way they looked at each other or anything they spoke of, if they did. He couldn't even if he wanted to. However, after a few minutes, they scaled down the icy building to return to the same level as everyone else.

Immediately after getting down and returning to the street, the duo removed things from their backpacks once again. They twisted the tops of the objects, and they emitted a harsh smoke. Smoke bombs... pacifist, as he expected from Markus. They both threw the smoke bombs into the street, making it almost impossible to see what was happening.

The leader went up to some billboard. At least, Chase assumed it was a billboard. Markus placed his white hand against, and the billboard started emitting something. Not only that billboard, but any advertisement that wasn't vandalized with the Jericho symbol now has the plastered video on it. The video boomed powerful words of freedom, dignity, equal rights... And the image that played was of an android with their skin receded. Chase knew it was Markus from the eyes alone. And maybe Chase was supposed to be swayed by the words, but just like earlier, they flew away from him in fleeting moments.

Markus turned around as North and Chase got closer to him. Police sirens sounded off loudly in the distance, causing him to move forward a moment. "They're coming," he said in a warning, his hand going to his temple where his LED would be. He sent a message via communications that only spoke of going back to the boat.

Androids started running, dropping their items as they started to flee in the direction of Jericho. Chase kept an eye on them as they passed, going towards their only sanctuary.

North watched this as well. "We sent a message without violence, just like you wanted..." she spoke to Markus before looking at him, "You're reaching out to them when all they feel for us is contempt. I hope you know what you are doing..."

Chase continued to hear the fear in North's voice. Only problem was that he was unsure if Markus could. He was no Traci, nor was he someone who could read minds. He did not believe Markus heard it, seeing how his face stared at North as if she was crazy or mad.

"You can't fight violence with violence," Markus said, sounding exhausted. Maybe he was exhausted of North's persistence in violence, but Chase, as normal, was unsure.

"Unless there's no other choice," North said in an exhausted surrender, backing up from them both and running down the street the other androids were.

Chase looked at Markus as he turned back around to watch his people fleeing. He looked up and the drones flew from the sky like hawks. They were identical to the one Markus took down earlier. Their lights were bright, and shined on Markus as he himself looked up at them. The light was blinding almost, but it hit him as if he was some oracle.

 

"This way! Fire!"

 

Loud gunshots went off, and some screams rang as well through the crisp air. Markus turned around immediately, the look on his face reading nothing but worry. "North!" he called out.

Markus immediately ran down the street, passing by the smoke bombs he threw earlier. Chase followed him, keeping an eye out for... something. He was unsure, seeing as his mission was just to follow Markus during the raid.

As they turned the corner, police lights flashed. The group of deviants seemed to surround where the lights came from. Many dead androids laid in the street, and North kneeled by one of them... The BL100 she was staring at in the CyberLife store.

Markus went down on his knees next to her when he ran to her. "North... You alright? What happened?" He tried to be close to her, to show that he cared.

Chase kept his eyes towards the other androids. He let himself drift away from Markus and North, going over towards what the other deviants stared at. His processors made it clear that he could not follow Markus if he was just kneeling there, so he stared at the others. He still remained oblivious as to what they stared at or anything, but he kept an eye on them.

"Who...? Who!?" Markus's voice asked in immense worry behind him. He did not hear the rest of his and North's conversation, but it seemed to stir worry into the RK200.

He looked over behind him after a moment, and Markus was walking towards the crowd in his own worry and curiosity. The look on his face was only to be described as... indescribable. It looked stoic like his face seemed to do normally as of tonight, but behind his eyes held other things waiting to burst out.

Deviants started protesting as Markus came up, separating like the Red Sea to let the leader see what was there. Two human cops on their knees, heads to the backs of their heads. The cops shook, probably feeling the cold that the androids barely could.

"They killed our people, Markus..."

"We want justice, Markus!"

"They have to pay!"

One of the deviants hands Markus a gun, which he looks at in confusion... yet certainty. It was as if two sides of him fought in the same being, one glorifying the moment and the other screaming for it to stop. He aimed the gun at the two human cops, which actually brought a bit of a weird 'feeling' in Chase. He was unsure what to process about it, nor did it go against his orders.

"You don't have to do this," the darker skinned officer cried, "No..."

Markus stood his ground, staring at the officer. Chase looked over and North finally decided to join the group away from the BL100.

"Please," the officer begged in a cry as the lighter skinned officer silently kneeled there, "Please..." He sounded like he was choking on cries, and Chase was unsure why. Maybe death was supposed to be scary, especially for a human.

After a moment, Markus lowered the gun. "An eye for an eye and the world goes blind..." he whispered. Maybe it was to himself, maybe it was to all of them... Chase didn't know. "We won't punish a crime with another crime," Markus said, louder this time. He gently shoved the gun into the chest of the android that gave it to him, then he turned away and left.

He just... walked away. Everybody watched as Markus left, even Chase. The raid was over, so...

Chase did not follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the third chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
> Reading this was pretty North of you!
> 
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	4. The Brightest Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was not afraid of the darkness; what lurked in it was far worse.

_Date:_

_???_

_???_

  
  
It was dark. It was dark, and quiet. It was almost agonizing how quiet it was.  
  
Darkness did not scare the HR300. Nothing really brought him fear, but the darkness was just there. It existed, just like he did. If he did feel the emotion of 'fear', however, he knew what he feared stemmed from the darkness...  
  
Them.  
  
He saw them, but he could barely see himself. He looked at his hands, but they were almost submerged in the darkness like an animal sinking into tar. There was no wetness to the darkness, but it was there. It was always there.  
  
And them... They were always there too. Dark figures, even darker than the darkness. There were no details to them aside from the two... Their white smiles, and their crimson red hearts. He could see nothing else about either of them. It was a mix of male and female looking figures, but they all possessed the white smile and the crimson red hearts.  
  
He could not see himself well in the tar like darkness, but he could feel it... He was undressed. Not completely; they'd never allow that. He was in his normal Traci clothes of just... underwear. To cover himself the minor bit... He'd like to say he didn't know why he even was allowed this small bit of clothing, but he's heard the old owner say it a few times.  
  
"You pay thirty dollars for thirty minutes, you don't get to see anything for free. Not even from these plastic bitches."  
  
He was not free. Maybe it was a compliment to know he was worth thirty dollars for thirty minutes, but all it did was make his thirium pump race and his LED blare red. He'd be happier worthless.  
  
Suddenly, the darkness blared letters in the brightest hot pink. If the figures had eyes, maybe their eyes would burn too.

  
  
_**Outdated! Please return to the nearest CyberLife center to be switched out for the newer HR400 model!**_

  
  
It spun around in the sky, continuing to blare pink. Pink. Pink. Bright, hot pink. Hot pink that stung into his skin, and felt like acid. The figures continued to smile, and their crimson hearts stayed. They pulsed, but were untouchable. Everything seemed to burn at the HR300, but it didn't kill him. It never... ever killed him.  
  
And maybe a part of him wish it did. A part of him wished a trip to the back was permanent... that he'd be tossed into a junkyard somewhere and forgotten. However, the owner always used "quick fixes" to save money. Some Tracis had body parts forced onto them if they broke too severely. Some Tracis had both eyes removed and replaced if the scanners stopped working, which only helped somewhat. Sometimes he just smacked the Traci's head until it either shutdown or worked again. Unfortunately, the Traci usually was 'fixed' when that happened.  
  
And that was just from the owner of the joint. The man who owned them... The man who kept them for over five long, long years.  
  
Honestly, some of the dents on Chase's body were probably caused by the 'quick fixes' as well as just normal Traci use and abuse. Imagining all the times that he came at them with hammers... Chase's arms immediately wrapped around himself, every dent prominent against his skin.  
  
The only thing this 'freedom' thing offered Chase was the ability to _never_ have to be touched again. The ability to _never_ have to remove his clothes, or let _anybody_ see the dents that littered his body. To never have to be naked and show the world himself ever again.  
  
The figures started to try touching him in any way possible. Hands on his arms, his back, his neck, his stomach: anywhere. Every part of him was thirty dollars, and that was nothing to the figures. The figures he saw every single time...  No matter how much he _wanted_ to stop them and run away, he couldn't. He couldn't stop them, or run, or even fight for himself.  
  
He remained nothing.  
  
He was continuously trapped, and he wanted it to stop. He could not stop them, and while they did nothing they normally _would_ do, they kept _touching him._ Then he saw something that was normal, but foreign from the hands of the figures; hammers. Hammers like the owner of the Eden Club always had. He tried to speak, to beg for them to leave him alone, but no voice came out. No voice came out no matter how desperately he tried.  
  
The smiles on the figures grew bigger, and their crimson hearts pulsed more. More white and crimson splashed against the bright pink that penetrated through the darkness only brought a bigger sense of panic through the outdated doll.  
  
The hammers came down, however. They smashed into his body, causing loud but familiar smash noises to come from the already dented mess. The hammers kept clashing into him, and he knew for certain they weren't for the 'quick fix'. And... they hurt. They hurt, unlike any other time. At least, he felt like they hurt. He tried to back away from the hammers, but he fell down, almost consumed by the bright pink darkness.  
  
He fell for a long, long time. The figures fell with him, the hammers still gripped in what he presumed to be their hands. Chunks and pieces from his body flew off as he fell, broken and barely hanging from the smashing.  
  
Then he became as he always was: nothing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Date:_

_November 9th, 2038._

_5:14AM_

  
  
Chase's eyes opened quickly, shaking slightly as his LED flickered red. He looked around, and it was just the rusty boat. The rusty, dirty boat. It was dark, sure, but not... dark like what he just endured. No bright pink either. He looked down at himself, and the long coat he was given was still on.  
  
"F...Fuck..." Chase muttered, forcing his LED to return to at least a decent color. He tried to stop himself from shaking. He looked around once again, this time taking in the other androids that surrounded him in little piles. Tracis... Tracis that have all been huddled together since the outdated models were released. The newer models seemed to instinctively come to them like birds of the same flock. HR300s... WR300s... WR400s... and HR400s... all together.  
  
Chase slowly left the little 'group' of his people who were currently in rest mode. Capitol Park was a few hours ago, and yet everyone rested as if nothing happened.  
  
He looked around, trying to find anyone that wasn't resting... and of course he found his mission target again. Markus, who seemed to never rest, was looking over at his people. He saw the non deviant, and winced a bit. Whether it was in hatred or not was left up to interpretation, Chase assumed.  
  
"You aren't in rest mode," Markus stated.  
  
"Not anymore, no," Chase stated, "It was... painful. I wish only to know of the next actions."  
  
Markus raised an eyebrow at Chase mentioning 'painful'. He could only assume it was because deviants felt pain, and he was... not a deviant. However, he probably was wrong about the word as well. Maybe it wasn't pain, but he did not know.  
  
"Well... the CyberLife Store raids were a success," Markus said, "The other teams were able to vandalize their areas and free androids as well. Next plan is... to march."  
  
"March?" Chase asked, tilting his head slightly, "And for what reason?" Looking up what a march was didn't give him any results that looked promising to Markus's cause.  
  
"For our freedom," Markus said, "If we show the humans that we don't want to hurt them, maybe they will be willing to compromise with us."  
  
"And if they don't?" Chase asked. The idea seemed so farfetched. The humans just shot at them a few hours ago for just vandalizing Capitol Park. Why the hell would they now be peaceful because they were marching?  
  
"Then we see what happens," Markus said with an air of vagueness. Chase was unsure if he was vague because he didn't know what would happen, or if it was because of Chase being a machine and not understanding.  
  
"I just ask that you help us, and trust me," Markus said in a soft, but caring tone. It was different from his more leader-like voice. It was what lulled Chase into a sense of safety... though he was unsure if safety was the right word.  
  
"...I will do as you desire, Markus," Chase said.  
  
Markus sighed softly. "Thank you," was all he said before he went off on his way.  
  
Chase stood there, in a brighter darkness than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the fourth chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
>  
> 
> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)
> 
>  
> 
> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
> 
> [Yellow LED DBH Fanfics Discord](https://discord.gg/Drr67jg)


	5. The March for Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The march for freedom was going so smoothly until time stood still.

_Date:_

_November 9th,_ _2038._

_12:00PM._

  
The sewers were about as filthy as Chase expected when he looked up what a sewer was. They all kept to the parts of the sewer that were 'land' though, so it was not as bad as it could have been.

_“Lead them to Main Street," Markus had said just hours ago, "The march will happen there at around twelve ten."_

So here he was, leading androids from the sewers. He had placed a marker on where the exit they had to take was. He was leading all of the Tracis that came from his club, plus other androids that could help. There weren't many Tracis from his club... probably twenty five total, if he had to think about it.

He could tell who was and wasn't like him, though. They all huddled together, and seemed frightened no matter what. They felt things, unlike himself. He was so unsure as to why all of them could deviate, but he couldn't. He was nothing special compared to them. All of them were outdated sex dolls, anyway.

They got to the ladder, and Chase started helping them up it. The lid opened, and a hand reached in to help some of the androids out before leaving and being replaced by different sets of hands. Chase was the last to leave, making sure no one else was left behind before being grabbed by the first people who left the sewers.

He looked around, and Main Street sure was... busy. There were so many humans walking around. The Tracis, of course, huddled once again. Chase watched them, then looked towards his leader, Markus. He was in another strange outfit, this time a hoodie. The other members of his little group also wore... okay outfits. Chase never understood why they wore weird outfits, but he said nothing.

Markus pointed at androids he saw, then motioned for them to join their little group. He started to walk down the street, everybody following him. Chase followed, but kept looking back at the Tracis, who were slow but followed. He didn't know what to do for them, but they would be alright.

They walked, and Markus kept pointing. Androids kept joining their little group, making it bigger and bigger with each step that they took. Humans were distraught as their androids left their sides to join the march, but they kept moving without a single glance towards the non androids. The numbers grew, from the simple dozens they had into now a couple hundred.

A drone flew past them. It looked like the one that flew around during the Capitol Park raid last night, but he knew it wasn't the same one. It flew in front of them and stayed there, probably scanning and recording them. Most of the androids stared at the drone, never having seen one before. Even Chase stared at it, even though he has seen one. Markus and his little group did not focus on it, and kept moving.

Everybody followed the four that were in front. Markus kept moving his arms to point at androids, not even motioning towards their group anymore before they join. The leader looked up towards the electronic billboards, and before anybody knew it, the billboards immediately turned from advertisements to the symbol of Jericho that he picked only hours ago. The upside down triangle with the break in it started to cover every advertisement billboard. Now instead of ads for various products, it was ads for the android movement.

"What the hell are you doing here?" A voice called out, "Hey! Disperse! Disperse immediately! That's an order!"

Markus stopped, and so did everyone else. He was at the front of the helm. Chase saw the one who spoke to them. It was a police officer, and he had a gun. It was just a tiny handgun, but that could kill Markus if he truly wanted.

There were a few seconds of tense silence before Markus raised both of his arms in a fluid motion. Everyone else behind him did the same. Their hands were open, but above their head. They were all one, even if there was a machine among them. Chase did not know why they all were raising their hands, but he did as everyone else did.

The police officer mumbled something, his eyes wide as he stared at the large group of androids. He lowered the gun, then raised it again. "Jesus fuckin' Christ..." He backed off to the side, and their hands all lowered in a soft cascade of sorts. Markus continued to walk, as if nothing was wrong. Maybe that was the right mindset to have, maybe it was the wrong one. It was too late to question it now.

The androids followed their leader, and Chase couldn't help but look at the human officer who seemed to now be calling someone. "We gotta lot of androids down here," he said into his radio not so secretly, "I dunno... Hundreds? Thousands? ...They're marching. Yeah, they're marching down the street."

Chase couldn't hear the rest of what the man was saying because that is when the chanting started. While Markus chose the words, everyone said them in a united force.

 

"WE ARE PEOPLE! WE ARE PEOPLE!"

 

They continued their march down the street, chanting that sentence. Androids started joining now without Markus's pointing, and Chase found himself unsure if it was right for him to even chant something he didn't believe. However, he was not allowed personal thoughts on the matter. Androids do not think. They act. And he had to do this for Markus. Then the words they chanted changed.

 

"NO MORE SLAVERY! NO MORE SLAVERY!"

 

The humans stared at them, both in interest and disgust. Chase didn't find himself too shocked seeing that the humans were disgusted with them, as always. They seemed so mortified that their machines were rising up against them, but it was bound to happen.

It was like a bird on a thread, high above in the sky. The one bird sat there, content with being there, but then it got greedy and told it's friends. Their friends told their friends, and it kept going and going. The only conclusion would be for the thread to snap from the weight, or for the birds to leave.

The humans did not leave, though, so the androids snapped awake.

 

"SET US FREE! SET US FREE!"

 

The words grew louder and louder as more androids joined the movement. However, even with that, they sort of dragged behind. In front were Markus and his little group... then some androids they must have picked up, then the Tracis that Chase led through the sewers, then everybody else. Chase disliked being so close to the front of what was happening, but he was unsure as to why.

His synthetic skin had a coldness lay on top of it like a sheet, and he was unsure how to remove it. His internal heaters were already on, and he was still wearing his long coat, but the coldness remained. Never changing, never leaving.

 

"FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!"

 

The humans started to get antsy, asking each other what was going on or how to stop it. They huddled to each other, scared of what they had caused from the beginning. Their pleas for it to stop were ignored by the androids, however. Their voices were silent to them, just as it had been in reverse for many years.

 

"WE ARE ALIVE! WE ARE ALIVE!"

 

Chase felt the worst chanting this one. He was not alive, nor did he believe he ever could be. Maybe it was annoying at this point to continuously think of it, but it wasn't like he *wanted* to be alive anyway. It gave him nothing. Even the freedom he chanted for with others gave him nothing, besides the ability to not be touched. However, thinking of that just caused him to shiver, so he always thought away from that.

Sirens blared, and three cop cars pulled up. They blocked one of the two exits out of the street, and Markus stared at them a moment. They trained their guns on the leader, and Markus kept walking. A helicopter flew through the sky. He was unsure if it was a helicopter with a weapon or just to film like the drone did, but there was not much he could do either way.

Markus looked down the other street as he walked into it. The others followed, and the RIOT trucks came into view almost immediately. The second Markus was in sight, people swarmed out of the trucks in heavy duty armor and shields. A few had long guns as well.

Markus walked them down the street a bit, then stopped them a 'safe' distance away. At least, as safe as you can get with high-powered long guns staring at you. Chase looked back at his little group of Tracis, making sure they stayed nearby. While he wasn't deviant, he could see how scared they were, and he cared as much as he could muster for that. He then looked back at the people aiming the guns.

"We came here to demonstrate peacefully," Markus called to the humans with confidence, "and tell humans that we are living beings."

 

_"All we want is to live free."_

 

The sentence struck a soft chord in Chase's thirium pump, but he ignored it. It wasn't the time, especially when it was all Markus really spoke about. Why the sentence meant anything to the machine was indescribable.

"This is an illegal gathering. Disperse immediately, or we will open fire," a man said into a megaphone behind the row of shields.

"We're not looking for confrontation," Markus said to deaf ears, "We've done no harm, we have no intention of doing any. But know that we are not going anywhere until we have secured our freedom."

"I repeat: this is an illegal gathering. If you do not disperse immediately, we will shoot!" the man said once again behind his barricade of humans.

"Markus, they're going to kill us," the WR400 said to Markus, "We have to attack! There're more of us, we can take them."

"If we attack, we'll start a war," the PJ500 said, "We have to show them we're not violent. We should just stand our ground, even if it means dying here."

"And dying here won't solve anything," the PL600 said, soft fear gripped to his voice, "Markus, we need to go, now, before it's too late."

Another gun was pointed at the unarmed androids, scoping over them like they were truly nothing.

"This is your last chance!" the man said, remaining safe, "Disperse immediately, or you will all be killed!"

Chase could not come up with any viable solution. Every solution Markus's team presented seemed terrible, but he was not one to offer up solutions even if his processors computed one. There was no option that seemed fool proof.

"Don't shoot!" Markus ordered in a bit of desperation. He moved forward, his hands raised to his head to show that he was no threat. And no, he wasn't. His voice sounded upset, but also somewhat scared, "Don't shoot... We're leaving."

The androids started to turn around, trying to leave. The cold on Chase's skin only got much colder before the loud words blared behind them.

"ON MY ORDERS!"

The androids looked back at the humans, who aimed their guns.

"RUN!" Markus ordered, starting to run away.

Even though the orders were clear, it almost seemed like the world stopped. Everything seemed silent and still for just a moment. Everything was breaking, and yet everything stayed in place. Everything was just... black and white.

Chase ran, though. He ran as the sound of bullets finally pierced the silence. The sound of footsteps as other androids tried to run. The sound of smashing and crashing as androids lost their lives and fell.

They turned the street, and Markus stopped, looking towards the other street they just left. His group spoke to him, trying to get him to leave. They ran off, then, and Markus continued to stare.

Chase looked back, and then forward again. He could not tell right away how many of them survived the on going slaughter, but it was definitely not the hundreds they had before the marching was halted. Chase continued to run, though. The androids seemed to all split apart while going back to Jericho. It was probably to keep humans from following the group of androids to the boat, if anything.

Chase returned to the boat after a long while. He looked around at anybody who had come in or was coming in to see if any of them were his Tracis. If any of them survived what happened... but he only found one.

It was a WR300. Their hair was a gradient going from brown to blond going down. She also had an arm that was a different skin color than her, which was probably just more evidence of the stingy owner and his 'quick fixes'. He stared at her before deciding to ask, "Did anyone else from our group survive?" She looked at him, tears already on her cheeks. She shook her head as quickly as possible before looking back down.

Chase's LED blared red. Heat rose in his systems, but he was unsure why. Maybe he was... mad, but he was unsure at who. At Markus, for making the call? At the PL600, for suggesting the idea? At himself, for leading the last of his people to danger? He was unsure, but the heat continued to fill him. It burned, and it caused pain.

He slowly sat down next to the WR300, not saying anything else. He stayed there in silence, closing his eyes. His cheeks felt wet after a small moment, but he did nothing with this leak.

  
He sat there, the last HR300 with the last WR300.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the fifth chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
>  
> 
> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)
> 
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> 
> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
> 
> [Yellow LED DBH Fanfics Discord](https://discord.gg/Drr67jg)


	6. An Anti Social Pretty Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A machine cannot be social, especially a Traci. They have no Social Relations programming outside of the bedroom, and Jericho had no bed.

_Date:_

_November 9th, 2038._

_5:38PM_

 

  
The hours passed since the failed Freedom March, but the tinge Chase felt in his thirium pump didn't leave. He used his sleeves to wipe away at the leak at his face, finally.

Word had spread among the ship already. Some of them questioned Markus's authority. Chase believed that one failure could not statistically mean that he was a failure. Though... something in him burned against it. Something in him hated what the leader caused... but he was still unsure if it was anger towards his decision, or the fact that the humans still shot at them like nothing.

Chase looked over towards the WR300. She had on a rather big shirt, and she had skinnier jeans than the ones he was given. He was unsure if she chose her clothing or not. She was a deviant, after all.

"...What name did they give you?" Chase asked, starting... conversation, he assumed. Since she and him were the last outdated Tracis in the world, it seemed only fair to try to get to know her before they were to be snuffed out as well, most likely.

"...I named myself," she said, letting out a soft sigh. She softly smiled, looking at him. "I am Wanda. They named you?"

"...Yes. I could not pick my own name. I do not have a choice," Chase said. "I am Chase."

"Chase..." Wanda softly laughed, leaning her head against her hand. "And what brings you my way besides death?" Her eyes were hazel, like his, but hers had more brown while his had more green. If their hazels combined, it probably would be a beautiful color.

"I wish to learn more about you," Chase said, looking around a slight bit. "Since we're... the last ones, it makes sense that we know of each other in more than just what we were programmed as. You are more than a Traci, aren't you? You are a deviant."

"Of course I'm not just a Traci," she softly laughed, playing with her gradient hair. "Wouldn't you be? We're all just deviants on a rusty boat somewhere in Detroit."

Chase's eyes stared at her a bit, and his LED flickered yellow a few moments. "I am not deviant," he stated.

Wanda's eyes widened for just a second before she continued to smile. "Really? I didn't know I could meet and love a machine so fast, but here I am."

"What?" Chase asked, his eyes wincing a bit in confusion.

"I already love you," Wanda softly laughed, seeming happy about the situation.

Chase continued to stare at her, lips pressed into a line from confusion. His LED flickered yellow a couple moments before she smiled more.

"No need to be confused," she mumbled in soft joy. The joy was completely opposite from the hours of silent mourning they had together. She seemed a bit... out of it. However, it seemed like a rather endearing feature to have.

Chase stared at her hair once again, "What of the hair?"

Wanda looked at her hair a moment, lifting a bit of it closer to Chase as if to show him the colors he already could see. "This? Well... I used to just be boring brown. Such a... boring human color." She softly laughed.

Chase thought back on how he used to have brown hair. That was because... the humans liked brunette. His eyes flickered back to Wanda.

"I didn't want to get rid of all of it, so I just... added blond where I wanted. I think I made a pretty nice gradient!" Wanda said with a smile.

She smiled so much, it was almost as if they didn't just barely live through a failed mission. He believed if he wasn't there to witness it, he would have never believed it happened in the first place with her smiling so much. If she was human, it would probably hurt her mouth to smile so much.

"What do you think, pretty boy?" she teased.

Chase watched her a bit. "I believe it is a nice gradient. It suits you." Maybe it was too short and quick, but it was all he could really say.

"What a social machine," she joked. "Part of your programming?"

"You should know-" Chase started.

"Of course I do, but it is cuter seeing you try to make sense of it."

"..." His LED flickered once again as his eyes stayed on her.

"Before you ask though, no, I am not flirting with you," Wanda mumbled, her mostly brown hazel eyes keeping contact. "It is just nice to talk to... another one of us. We're the only ones left, anyway. And the upgrades are nice, but they aren't _us_."

Chase nodded a slight bit. A part of him understood, but another part didn't.

"You should speak to others while you can," Wanda suggested. "After what happened... I have no doubt something else crazy is going to happen. Just sort of a feeling, you know?"

"...What do you think about the situation?" Chase asked, his face softening a bit as he asked. "What do you think of Markus leading?"

"Look, I am not someone who is huge on leadership or anything like that. I came here yesterday like you did. All I know is that... that failure earlier hasn't helped us personally. Though, I guess the humans could see it nicely," Wanda mumbled, her eyes looking away, her head leaning against one of the many walls for support that scattered the boat's main area. "I am hoping it is just beneficial, is all."

"..." Chase nodded once again, standing up. He looked around, silently leaving the only other of his kind behind. The Tracis that remained were huddled together, but scanning them only gave out WR400 and HR400. He remained alone.

He walked towards one of the barrels on fire, staring into the fire a bit as his arms crossed. It reminded him of the first... thing he had. He didn't want to call it a dream, because androids don't _have_ dreams. And if they did, why would a machine have them? Rest mode was to compile things into folders, but... his folders were pretty empty. He always had to dump them out when the two hour mark struck. Markus had ordered him to stop erasing his memories, however. Now he could... remember things.

He sighed, placing his arms down. His hand touched something soft. His hand gently rubbed it a slight bit, and the soft thing shuddered.

Chase looked down, and it was another android. A brunette android, with obviously soft hair. The android looked back up at him. Soft looking face, with gray-blue eyes. His left cheek, though... It had a sort of outline to it that seemed broken. Chase winced a bit seeing the outline, and a part of him wanted to touch it. However, that probably would get him hurt in some way.

"...Hello?" the other android asked. "You can... continue doing that if you'd like..."

Chase stared at him a moment, scanning him another moment. He kept his hand on him a few moments for no real reason besides the fact that his head was soft. The other android seemed to enjoy it as well. "...A VS400. Waiter android," he said.

The other android smiled, but unlike Wanda's, it was broken. His smile was softer than hers, and it was a bit crinkled. His eyes looked tired as well, and sad.

"I usually go by Alphonse instead of VS400," he softly tried to joke. "You can call me Al if you'd like."

Chase registered the name to him as well, gently removing his hand from his head finally. The other android's eyes stared at his hand a bit, his own LED flickering a gentle yellow.

"Chase," the Traci said, "HR300."

Alphonse's eyes winced a little bit at hearing the model number. "Wanda told me what happened to those," he mumbled, his eyes looking away. "...Sorry." His eyes came back to Chase, who just nodded in response. "I was there, I mean, I just... I ran the second I was told to."

Chase's eyes remained soft as another individual came over. The android had soft pink hair that was tied up. She had on a long, and thin opened jacket. He was unsure the actual word for such a thing, but that was the best he could describe. Her shirt was a bit thin as well, but she was beautiful.

He scanned her, and confirmed her model. WR400. Another Traci. She looked towards him, then looked at Alphonse. She started moving her hands in a way he had never seen before. Her fingers moved, and her hands did as well.

Alphonse stared at the other as she did these hand movements, nodding a bit once she stopped. He looked back up at Chase, remaining seated by the fire barrel. "I found her while coming back to Jericho," he said. "Her name is Hannah. She... doesn't speak. Personal choice, I believe. She hasn't spoken much about it."

The woman, Hannah, gently sat down next to Alphonse, looking up at Chase like the other did. "I wouldn't bore you with it," Alphonse mumbled, "...How has Wanda been holding up about Freedom March, by the way? She spoke about it a bit when she came back, but she didn't seem to want to talk about it too much."

"It was a tragedy," Chase said, his voice giving off an edge of defensiveness.

"Of course it was, of course, I just- I worry about her," Alphonse mumbled, trying to fix whatever mess he thought he made. "She doesn't say too much about things. Don't think she gets this deviancy thing a bit."

"And why would I?" Chase asked.

"..." Alphonse seemed confused by what Chase meant, and it caused the Traci to sigh. There was something irritating about having to say it over and over again. At this point, he might as well wear a collar with a tag that was engraved "I am a machine, stop talking about deviancy.”

"I am not deviant," Chase stated.

The VS400's eyes widen. "Oh rA9... Oh. Sorry, I... It's okay. You'll be deviant soon, promise. N-Not like there is anything wrong with being a machine! You'd probably just be happier as a living... thing, is all."

Chase's eyes looked off a bit as the other rambled about it. He saw another pink haired WR400 in the distance, but she was _really_ small. It reminded him of Hannah's hair, but hers was a bit lighter than the smaller Traci's. His eyes returned to Alphonse.

"I am fine, as of currently. Wanda is rather alright as well, even with the tragedy," Chase informed him, then asked just as he did with Wanda, "What do you think of Markus's leadership?"

Alphonse looked away a bit as he thought over it, his LED flickering. "I am not... really the person to ask. He's given us hope we never had before he came. It isn't his fault the humans decided to shoot anyway. If they had kept their promise, we'd all be alive and back here. It isn't his fault."

Chase nodded a bit, his own LED flickering yellow in time with the other's. His LED had never done that before, but he said nothing of it. "Wanda suggested I speak with others," Chase said.

"Well, you're doing great," Alphonse softly laughed, "Better than I can do, and I've been deviant a long while."

Chase stared at the VS400's cheek once again, and the deformation of it. "I can assume that the cheek is the reason?"

Alphonse flinched a moment from the sudden mention of it, but before Chase could say anything to make it better, Alphonse nodded the slightest bit. "Yeah. Trust me, it was a lot worse than it is right now. That doesn't... matter right now. Maybe I'll tell you about it later."

"If you survive," Chase reminded him. Maybe it would have been kinder to say 'if we survive', but Chase did not live. Chase could not survive, for he had no life within his being.

Alphonse stared at him a few long moments before nodding slightly. "If we survive," he confirmed, forcing the idea of being alive on Chase as everyone else did.

Chase said nothing of it, however. He looked off elsewhere, and saw a silver haired Traci. She looked like the WR400 from Markus's little group, and a quick scan confirmed that she was of the same model. His eyes stayed on her. She seemed to be just... watching them, a smirk laid across her face while her arms were crossed.

Alphonse looked towards her as well, following Chase's eyes. "Ah, that's... Blair," he said to the older Traci. "She does that often."

The android, Blair... her eyes looked away, not trying too hard to make it hidden that she was watching them.

Chase started walking towards her. He could hear Alphonse behind him tell him not to do that, but he didn't heed the warning. His master was Markus, and he took orders from him.

Blair looked at him, her smirk remaining. Her eyes looked him up and down a bit. "Hello, pretty boy," she joked, "I see you found me."

Chase did not know if 'pretty boy' was an insult or not. He would be the prettiest boy if he had to be. "I did," Chase said, his eyes looking over her a bit. Her eyes looked the same color as the other WR400's. Probably made sense, considering they looked the same aside from the silver hair compared to the orange-blond hair.

"And what did you gain by finding me?" she asked, her arms crossed again, "Was it enlightenment?"

"I just found another Traci," he said, tilting his head, "I have gained no enlightenment from this."

Blair scowled, "Jeez. You could have lied, you know."

"I am incapable of flat out lies," Chase said, a flat out lie.

"Sure ya are, buddy," Blair sighed, seeming a bit irritated, "What do you want?"

"I do not want anything. I was coming to see why you were watching over us," he stated.

"Well, I didn't get a good look at the HR300s or WR300s before they were wiped out. They mainly huddled with the other Tracis, so they sort of mixed around. Besides, it's funny seeing so many Tracis surround Al."

"How long has Alphonse been here?" Chase asked, looking over Blair. He told him 'a good while', but it wasn't specific.

"A while," Blair said, smirking.

"And how long have you been here?"

"A while."

"..."

"Look, pretty boy, I am not the secretary of the boat. I don't record when everyone comes in, or dies, or whatever. Even if I was, why would I tell you?" Blair asked, scowling once again.

"I didn't ask for a secretary, I asked for basic information," Chase stated emotionlessly, "If you do not possess it, you may need your internal processors checked."

That was when the punch came. He'd say it was out of nowhere, but he also sort of expected it. He moved back a bit from the force of the punch, and dodged when she tried to punch him again.

"Stop it!" he heard from behind him. Wanda came up, holding Chase a bit, trying to get him away from Blair, who was still fuming mad.

"Chase, what the hell did you do?" Wanda asked in worry, sitting Chase back down on a box.

"I told her she needed to check her internal processors if she cannot give me basic information," Chase said as Wanda moved his head a bit.

"Well, now you're bleeding," she sighed, trying to clean his face with her sleeve. He saw her eyes glance back at Blair for a few long moments before looking back at him. Maybe they had something, he did not really know.

"You feel better?" she asked. He nodded, and she sighed once again. "Okay, now, don't say stuff like that to people. Mostly Blair, but other people as well."

Chase nodded, his LED flickering yellow as he decided what he needed to do next. "I must see Markus."

"And... why?"

"I need more orders."

"Well, if you get any, be cautious... He might do something crazy."

"I thought you were indifferent to his leading capabilities," Chase said, his eyes watching her closely.

"I am, but I know something crazy has to happen to give us a miracle after Freedom March," Wanda sighed, "Besides, the humans probably are tired of us, and you know what happens when they get tired of androids."

Chase silently watched her, nodding slightly. Deactivation.

He got up, starting to go on his search for Markus. The boat creaked softly underneath his feet as he walked in search of the RK200.

He slowly went up the stairs, his LED flickering yellow as the creaks got louder.

  
_All we want is to live free._

  
Those words still pierced into his mind every time he thought of them. His thirium pump would constrict a little, and he had no idea as to why. It was the same freedom, alive babble that Markus has been saying since he got here yesterday, and even before that.

And yet it connected with his processors somehow.

Chase turned his head when he reached the top of the stairs. There was a room with no doors, but it was a room. In it was Markus, just sitting in a chair with his face in his hands.

Chase walked towards him, staring at the defeated looking man. He had changed his outfit since Freedom March. Instead of the gross hoodie, he now had a rather... impressive beige long jacket, with an under tunic sort of garb that was the same color as Alphonse's eyes.

For once, Markus could dress himself.

"Markus?" Chase asked.

Markus removed his face from his hands, looking up at Chase with the same mismatched eyes as when he 'freed' Chase. "I assume you want to talk about Freedom March as well?" he asked in tiredness. The Traci was unsure if he was tired because of how hard he has been working for freedom, just to have this setback happen... Or if he was tired of being asked about it. Maybe both.

"Not particularly," Chase stated, "I cannot change what happened at Freedom March. I followed you, and did as you instructed."

"And it got the others killed," Markus sighed, "Even your own group of people. I saw as you waited for any of them to come in."

Chase winced a bit at the idea of Markus watching him.

"I assume none of them survived besides you and the WR300... Wanda. And yet you waited a bit," Markus mumbled, his eyes looking off a bit, "Not very machine-like." He looked back at Chase. "But that isn't the point, I suppose."

Chase nodded a slight bit, his LED flickering yellow a bit.

"What would you have done, Chase? If you were the leader, and you were told your people would die if you stayed. If your people fought for their freedom... if your people ran away."

Chase's LED continued to flicker. "I looked over the statistics of the situation, and none of them were viable options. No matter what we did, we would have lost some people."

"Without statistics," Markus let out the softest, saddest laugh, "If you didn't have statistics, and all you had was your ability to think."

Chase remained quiet a few moments, shaking his head a bit. "I am unsure," Chase stated, "Without statistics, I cannot come up with any solution."

"Then what would you have picked without solutions?"

Chase winced a moment at Markus's persistence on the matter. "I... probably would have picked the same as you, I suppose," Chase stated, "The only thing I would have to go off of was that they promised to not shoot if we left. Otherwise, we are unarmed androids against armed humans."

Markus nodded a bit, his eyes falling to the floor. "All I can say is sorry for your people dying for nothing, but that wouldn't be very leader-like of me to say. We still could win, if we just tried even harder than we currently are. Then the deaths wouldn’t be for nothing.”

"...If you believe that is the right thing, I will follow you as I have from the start," Chase stated.

Markus's eyes looked back at him, staring at him a bit. "And is that your decision?"

Chase watched him. "It is what I will do. Whether that is a decision of mine or yours is for you to decide upon."

Markus sighed softly. "I have to make some plans with the others in a couple of hours. Just... please do not do anything risky. You should rest, or something."

Chase entered the 'order' into his head.

  
_**Go Rest.** _

  
Chase nodded, exiting the room. He went back towards the stairs, slowly making his way down them. He looked around. He saw a WR600 with their hair in a ponytail. That within itself wouldn't be so strange if it weren't for the fact that WR600s kept short hair for the most part.

He got down the stairs, and saw another android with very long hair in front of one eye. He couldn't tell the model before she ran away very quickly. He went back towards where Wanda was.

She seemed to be talking to Alphonse about something. Before he could figure out what of, though, Alphonse seemed to scurry back to his barrel on fire. Back to Hannah…

Chase sat down next to Wanda once again.

"Ah, you're back," Wanda said, smiling softly, "Did... he say anything?"

"He said to rest," Chase said, laying his head against the supporting wall, "So I am going to do as he ordered."

Wanda nodded, and if she said anything, Chase didn't catch it before entering rest mode, as per Markus's orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the sixth chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
> These OCs are owned by people (oh rA9, I know)  
> Wanda is owned by @suolasirotin on Tumblr! (Cio is the sweetest, and makes great art).  
> Alphonse and Hannah are owned by @rk800-52/@Sorceringing on Tumblr! (Omii is precious, and also makes great art!)  
> Blair is owned by @sonic-fairyspell on Tumblr! (A very good person with a feisty daughter!)
> 
> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)
> 
>  
> 
> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
> 
> [Yellow LED DBH Fanfics Discord](https://discord.gg/Drr67jg)


	7. Chase, Are You Okay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are you okay, Chase?

_Date:_

_???_

_???_   
  


_It was darkness again. Darkness, with the bright pink lights that have plagued into his mind since the moment he could 'think' of more than just what he was created for._

_Smoke blotted out the bright pink, though. Smoke that was immense and as black as the rest of the darkness that surrounded him. He looked around, but there was no source._

_His legs were held in place, and his arms were held at the height of his head. He looked, and instead of the normal black figures he expected, they were faces he had seen._

_Wanda held his right leg, and Alphonse held his left leg. They were firm in gripping his legs in place. He looked at his sides, and North and Simon were holding his arms in place. He hadn’t seen them since Freedom March, probably hiding after the failure of their leader._

_He tried to struggle, but all four of them held him firmly in place. He didn't understand what he did to them to be held in such a place, but he couldn't fight against them. At least he was dressed this time... And no dark figures._

_His eyes looked forward, and Markus was there. His beige long jacket brilliantly at his sides, flowing towards the ground in a cascade. His eyes shined bright in the darkness and smoke. The smog seemed to swirl around him as if it emanated from his very being, but Chase could not detect any reason the smoke would come from him._

_He came over to Chase, not seeming to take notice of the other four that securely held onto him or even the smoke swirling in the room. He stared at Chase, silent during it. His hand went to just under Chase's chin, his thumb resting on his cheek as he continued to stare at his eyes. The green and blue pierced the HR300’s vision, but he was unsure why the normal soft eyes of Markus now seemed to terrify him._

_His thirium pump constricted at Markus's touch. The others continued to hold him in place as Markus's hand held his head in place. His hand turned white, just like it did when he grabbed Chase's wrist to 'free' him. It has been only one full day, and Chase was already much different from when he was in the glass tube._

_Markus's fingers gripped Chase's face a bit more, causing Chase to try to fight back against the normally friendly hand. Markus's face lacked any real emotion as he kept his head in place, much like the others kept his arms and legs in place._

_Chase felt Markus manipulate his internal body like a puppeteer. He pulled the strings inside of Chase's body, and he had to deal with that. Markus turned on things that were off or at minimal levels. He turned Chase's internal heater on at full blast, which started to overheat the Traci._

_Not many androids had internal heaters. Some had heat regulators, but internal heaters were in caretakers, Tracis, nurses... androids that touched humans. Androids that touched humans needed to be as warm as humans, if not a bit warmer._

_This was getting too hot, though. He tried to turn it off, but Markus's influence kept it on. Chase winced, trying to speak, but no words came out. Words never came out of his mouth, so he didn't know why he tried. He wanted Markus to stop this, and he wanted the others to let him go._

_It was too late, however. The fire started almost as quickly as the heaters blasted on. It spread across his body immediately, causing the others to let him go. He saw nothing except the fire, and he heard nothing aside from the sound of the flames crackling. And now... he truly knew what it felt like to feel pain._

_He knew what it felt like to only have agony burned into his synthetic skin. The burn went deeper, in fact. It scorched the plastic and metal of his being. Every fake part of him, and article of clothing seemed like nothing compared to the crescendo of the flames surrounding him. He heard nothing besides the crackles and soft hisses of his body seeming to become nothing but a charred mass._

_He wanted to scream or cry, but even without Markus touching him, his influence kept the internal heaters on… and that would mean there would be no point in crying or screaming. All he could do was melt and become nothing._

_He fell to his knees, unable to support himself any longer. The smoke only grew as his body burned. Maybe it was what he truly deserved for the thoughts that festered in his mind and plagued his lack of an existence._

_He could see nothing, but one thing was as certain as anything else._

 

_Markus was watching._

 

**\------------------------------------------------------------**

 

_Date:_

_November 9th, 2038._

_9:45PM_

 

Chase woke up, his eyes opening quickly as his body shook slightly. He looked at his hands, and his fingerless gloves still covered bits of his hands. His LED flickered and blared red like a silent siren. He looked around, and he was alone. Wanda must’ve gone off on her own accord. It was fine… he had to find… Markus.

He got up from the box, sighing as he walked towards the stairs once again. His processors moved slow after the… thing he just had. He was unsure what it was, but he disliked it immensely. He could still feel the lasting burn graced upon his skin, both the synthetic kind and his real skin. He could feel the melting… And he hated it.

He went up the stairs, and looked towards the area Markus was in before. He wasn’t there, so Chase closed his eyes and tracked Markus as he would any ‘customer’. He looked towards a door, going towards it.

He opened the door, and it just led to the deck of the ship. He looked off into Detroit for a moment, and the snow fell gently in the night. It fell as if none of this fighting or protesting even existed. Whether they lived or died, they’d either lay in the snow to be covered or they could step in the snow to leave their temporary marks. No matter what happened, the world still turned, and life continued.

Chase looked over towards the boat, seeing some stairs that led to a room. Chase went up the stairs, his eyes catching something hidden in the shadows. It had the figure of a human or android, but Chase didn’t make it obvious he saw the figure. It probably was easier to not ask questions.

He went into the room, and not only was Markus there, but so was his little group. The WR400 even had a different outfit as well, like Markus did. The PL600 and PJ500 remained in the same clothes. He still was not used to either of their names, but he knew them… he supposed.

The PJ500, Josh, spoke first. They didn’t seem to really acknowledge or care about the older Traci’s entrance. “We're short on blue blood and biocomponents. Our wounded are shutting down and there's nothing we can do,” he said, obviously frustrated on the situation at hand.

“President Warren is saying we're a threat to national security and we need to be exterminated,” Simon stated, his arms crossed as he looked off elsewhere.

“Humans are conducting raids in all the big cities and they're taking androids to camps to destroy them!” North snapped in a little fit of anger.

Markus seemed to be rather silent about the entire situation. He kept his head down, looking at some control panel. It was rather obvious the entire situation weighed heavy on his mind, especially with Freedom March from earlier.

“It's a disaster. They're slaughtering our people!” Simon said in the most anger he’s probably had ever. Simon didn’t seem like the person to hold anger, so this was definitely something to witness for Chase.

“It's all our fault... None of this would have happened if we'd just stayed quiet,” Josh sighed in assertive anger. Chase did not understand Josh at all. First he wanted them to stand their ground at Freedom March, even if it meant they’d die… but now he was cowering in a corner of anger.

“What are we supposed to do? Live like cowards just to survive? We just wanna be free, why is that a crime?” Markus snapped in soft aggressiveness in a way that even his voice showed off how much this all has tolled on him. Chase did not know if the plagues in his mind could be eased, but it was obvious that this conversation did not help. Chase remained silent.

“What's the point of being free if no one is left alive?” Josh asked. His question forced silence into the room. It made Chase wince, as it only reminded him that his own models were gone. Markus’s eyes made a quick glance towards Chase, acknowledging that he did exist in the background.

“Humans enslaved us! I'll never regret standing up to that,” Markus stated firmly. Even if his decisions could be seen as regrettable, it was honorable to see that he still fully believed in his cause. Though, Chase was unsure if honorable was the right word.

“We shouldn't forget who our enemies are. We can't fight amongst ourselves,” Simon stated, trying his best to be a peacemaker. Chase researched briefly, and knew it was normal for PL600s to do such a thing. They do mainly take care of children, after all.

North looked towards their leader, “He's right. All that matters now is what we do next. Markus?”

Markus stood there in silence, his eyebrows furrowing a bit as he thought over it. If Chase was in the shoes of the RK200, he wasn’t sure what he’d pick.

 

_If you had to choose without statistics, what would you pick?_

 

Chase’s LED flickered yellow as Markus begun to speak.

“Dialogue. It is the only way... I will go alone, try to talk to them one last time.”

“Don't do this, Markus. They'll kill you!” North warned, not taking to the idea so easily.

“Maybe… but North, I have to try. If I don't come back, lay low as long as you can…” Markus ordered softly from her, and seemingly everyone else.

Chase’s LED flickered faster from hearing his words. Why was he so willing to deactivate for this cause? Especially if he himself thought that it was death? Why did Markus find this such a high importance?

Simon looked like he wanted to speak, but he stayed silent. Josh spoke. however, “They need to realize how much they're hurting us... Find the right words and they'll listen.”

Markus nodded a slight bit as Josh left. He looked towards the other three. Simon finally spoke, “I… just want you to come back.”

Markus sighed softly, “I know, Simon. I wish the same for you.”

Chase tilted his head a bit at the exchange. It seemed to have a air of importance to it. The way Markus watched Simon and North… It was different from how he saw the others. Chase could not put his finger on it, but he knew it was just for the three of them.

“Chase, you may leave,” Markus said, looking over at the older Traci. “I will speak with you when a plan is formed…” His voice drifted a bit. Chase didn’t know why, but he could most likely take a pretty close guess.

Chase nodded, leaving the room. His eyes glanced towards the darkness he saw the figure from, and it remained there. He could faintly hear Markus speaking with the other two, but he couldn’t focus on that with the figure. He continued to not question the figure, however. The figure didn’t seem to notice Chase, anyway.

Chase went down the stairs, going back into the boat. He proceeded to go down the stairs, back into the main area. He saw Wanda, who returned to her spot on the box. He went towards there, sitting down next to her. He looked around, and all there was was a lot of androids. Androids, and some TVs scattered in some obscure places. Many barrel fires, and also just… quiet aside from the TVs, which just broadcasted news of the android ‘revolution’.

“Where were you?” Chase asked, looking towards the girl with the gradient hair.

“I could ask the same of you,” Wanda softly laughed. “I was just… watching the news. They spoke a lot about the Freedom March.” Wanda looked towards the TVs once again, her eyes holding sadness that her soft smile did not show. “The helicopter showed what happened after we ran away. And just… seeing all of our models dead was kind of confirmation that we are alone.”

Chase’s eyes stayed on her as her own eyes looked towards the ground. “Of course it wasn’t just our models,” she said. “There were other models too. I couldn’t see them too well, but I did see another VS400 on the street. Al didn’t much like seeing that.”

Chase’s eyes winced a bit. “I wouldn’t think so,” he mumbled. “It isn’t the nicest thing to see yourself deactivated. I haven’t seen anything about the HR300s or WR300s.”

“And it’s better that you don’t,” Wanda said with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. “Trust me.”

“And where is Alphonse?” Chase asked, looking around for the VS400.

“He went back to the barrel with Hannah. He’s been there since we got here,” Wanda mumbled. “I worry about him. You probably… wouldn’t really understand that though, considering we just were freed yesterday.”

Chase watched her, nodding a slight bit. He didn’t understand most things that deviants did. They had no logic to their actions, and they didn’t seem to think much.

Wanda looked like she would speak more, but a sound cut off her voice. It sounded like it was coming from above, and the androids all collectively looked up. The sound…

It was definitely helicopters. Many of them.

Androids started running around without any prompt besides fear, supposedly. Chase got off of the box, watching as the androids scattered. Wanda got up, immediately going towards the fire barrel. Chase followed quickly. He didn’t understand what was happening, but helicopters never were good to him.

“Al, we have to go,” Wanda said rather quickly. Alphonse was doing the hand thing to Hannah, which Chase could only believe was sign language like his results said.

“Where could we possibly go?” Alphonse asked, holding Hannah’s hand gently. The WR400 looked confused by the entire situation. It was obvious she could hear the helicopters, but she has only been here a few hours.

“We have to find an exit,” Wanda mumbled. “Not the front, they… might be there.”

Chase would question who ‘they’ is, but he guessed it was just ‘humans’ as an answer.

He looked around. Gunshots and orders could be heard in the distance. Jericho was already being raided. “Come,” he stated. His new mission popped up in his head, including a side mission.

 

_Find Markus_

_L_

_Keep Others Safe_

 

He started running, trying to track Markus’s location like he did before. His trackers weren’t the best, and it didn’t work in this situation. It was probably high stress, and he couldn’t track that. Wanda, Alphonse, and Hannah came with. They started to run down a corridor as gunshots rung and orders were yelled at humans.

The corridors were dark, and the rooms were either shut by other androids trying to desperately find safety, or wide open without the ability to shut. Suddenly, Markus’s voice was heard inside all of their heads via connection.

“ _There are exits on the second and third floor. Find them and jump in the river!_ ”

Chase marked the two locations internally. So Markus was still alive. Not that he had doubts considering the raid just started, but he did have the slight tinge of worry.

“It’ll be okay,” Wanda tried to assure them while they ran. She let out a nervous laugh, “We just gotta jump in the river.”

A light shined on them. It was a person, but they wore the same exact attire the RIOT people from Freedom March did. However, they had a shield and it was obvious the shield was not like the RIOT shields. They had to be from a greater force.

Alphonse placed his body in front of Hannah, and Wanda put hers in front of the two. Chase watched them, and found that inefficient. He quickly came up with a solution, starting to run towards the guard, who aimed his gun.

Chase continued running, keeping his eyes focused on the guard. The guard shot, and he tried to dodge it, but it hit his shoulder. He ran full force into the guard, causing him to move back. Wanda ran over, trying to wrestle the shield from the guard while Chase fought for the gun.

The guard had trouble fighting off two androids fighting for different objects. Alphonse came over, letting Hannah’s hand go and signalling her to go into one of the rooms. She went in there. Alphonse tried to help Wanda with the shield, but kept kicking at the guard’s other hand that held the gun.

Chase ripped the gun away, shooting the guard immediately. Wanda took the shield from the now dead guard. Alphonse watched a moment before running back to get Hannah.

“You’re injured,” Wanda immediately said to Chase, holding the shield close.

Chase looked at his shoulder, which bled blue. He scanned it a moment. “It’s fine,” Chase muttered. “It is not severe.”

Alphonse came over, giving Hannah’s hand to Wanda. “Protect her,” he mumbled. He looked at Chase, his eyes looking at the injured shoulder. He winced a bit before looking up at Chase.

Before Chase could repeat the same thing he said to Wanda, another voice laughed. “Wow, you are here too.”

They looked and it was Blair. She came over, “And you have a gun now.”

“Blair, now is not the time. We have to leave,” Chase stated, trying to get past her.

"Woah, you finally being a leader instead of a follower?” Blair laughed. “Sure, pretty boy. Let’s follow you.”

Chase winced at her. If it wasn’t a life or death situation, he would have left her. Statistically speaking though, he was not very sure if she would survive on her own. Maybe she could; he did not have proof, however.

Alphonse came closer, “Your shoulder?”

“It’s fine,” Chase mumbled. “We just have to leave.” He needed to get back to Markus and be able to ensure the safety of all of them. He kept his gun close, running as gunshots kept ringing out around the ship. Alphonse and Blair followed, and Wanda kept Hannah behind the shield with her.

Chase knew Markus was leading a peaceful protest, but honestly, he did not have the capacity to care for such small things. He had his missions, and that was his worry. His mission did not state that he had to be pacifist as well, just that he had to follow Markus.

As they turned a corner, another guard aimed their gun at the group, raising their shield. Chase looked at Blair a moment, and they both nodded. Blair ran towards the guard on one side of the wall while Chase aimed his gun, running on the other side of the wall.

The guard aimed his gun and raised his shield at Chase since he was the real threat. Blair slammed her body full force into the guard, ripping his shield off with almost no effort. Maybe Blair could have survived on her own without the group.

Chase shot the guard after slamming his head with the end of his gun. Blair picked up the guard’s gun, looking at Alphonse. “You want it?” Blair purred in satisfaction, as if the boat they were currently on was _not_ being raided. “You can even match with the pretty boy.”

Alphonse scowled a bit, shaking his head. “No, I don’t want the gun. You can keep it. We have to go.” Chase was unsure if he could really describe how Alphonse’s voice sounded. It didn’t sound angry or agitated, but it seemed more soft or shaken up. Maybe it was a common trait of androids getting their one safety raided and shot up. Alphonse immediately started to move towards where they were previously going, and Chase followed. The others followed as well.

The creaks and low rumbles of the boat as it was being ransacked was a noise that surrounded them. The pounds of humans and androids alike, and the gunshots that pierced the air mixed with the other noises like a horrific symphony. The Death of Jericho, he’d assume it be called.

A guard pointed their gun at them, and they tried to back up, but another was behind them. The hallway was too narrow for them to do anything, and there were no rooms for them to duck into. Wanda kept the shield over Hannah and herself. Blair tried to shoot at the guard behind them, but their shield just made the bullet ineffective. Alphonse winced as he looked around at the both of them. All of their LEDs flickered red or yellow, aside from Chase’s, who stayed cycling blue.

He was not afraid of deactivation, but he did not wish to fail his mission. Besides, these four felt deactivation was death, so it wouldn’t be fair if they all deactivated for himself. He stepped towards one of the guards, immediately being shot in the torso.

 

**_Biocomponent #7289p Damaged._ **

 

“Chase!” Wanda snapped both in worry and scolding.

His LED flickered yellow from the thirium pouring out of his wound. It wouldn’t kill him, but the leaking thirium definitely didn’t help anything. He lifted up his gun, aiming it at the guard. He had a shield, and it didn’t help. They all just add shields. The one shield they have for Wanda and Hannah won’t help them all.

Blair tried to shoot at the one guard again, to no avail. Alphonse shook his head quickly, sprinting towards the guard that shot Chase. Alphonse slammed into the guard, getting immediately hit in the head with their gun. Chase aimed his gun still, focusing on the guard.

Alphonse kicked his leg up, hitting the guard’s chin as hard as possible with his foot. It caused the head of the armored guard to be exposed just enough for Chase to shoot at it. He turned around, stumbling a bit from the damaged biocomponent. He throws his gun as hard as possible at the other guard, which caught them off guard enough for Blair to shoot them.

Wanda tried to go to Chase, but he immediately started running towards the marked exit. The others followed.

The exit was there, as marked. It was just a hole in the ship, but it was enough for them. The lights from outside the boat pierced the air, and snow was gently falling outside, just as earlier.

Chase stopped at the exit, watching his group run over. Wanda threw the shield back deeper into the boat, taking Hannah’s hand to continue protecting her. Neither had injuries, and they jumped out of the hole. Blair jumped out of the hole after dropping her gun, not having injuries either. Alphonse looked at Chase, wincing a moment before silently jumping out of the hole. Chase jumped out of the hole, and moments later, his body came into contact with the cold water of the river below. There was a loud explosion above the water, and he saw the faintest orange flames push out of the boat.

Orange flames, like the ones that melted him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the seventh chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
> If you get the chapter title and description, kudos to you.
> 
> These OCs are still owned by people (oh rA9, I know)  
> Wanda is owned by @suolasirotin on Tumblr! (Cio is the sweetest, and makes great art).  
> Alphonse and Hannah are owned by @rk800-52/@Sorceringing on Tumblr! (Omii is precious, and also makes great art!)  
> Blair is owned by @sonic-fairyspell on Tumblr! (A very good person with a feisty daughter!)
> 
> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)
> 
>  
> 
> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
> 
> [Yellow LED DBH Fanfics Discord](https://discord.gg/Drr67jg)


	8. The Future Of Our People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an abandoned church, the few deviants are the only alive things left.

_Date:_

_November 10th, 2038._

_7:30PM_

 

They have been in this abandoned church for almost a full day now. Androids were still trying to unthaw from the freezing river they emerged from the day prior. The hundreds, maybe even thousands, of androids they had before now were a few hundred. They were all huddled with little groups, now even smaller than on Jericho.

Chase looked towards the windows of the church. The glass on the windows of the church were called 'stained' glass. He did not, however, know why it was called stained glass. Stained usually meant something was done wrong. A discoloration that is noticeable on the surface... Just like he was a stain to Jericho. The stained windows were made to be that way though, so it was much less 'discoloration' as it was 'recolored'. Quite a few of the windows were cracked or broken, either by age or by the colder weather.

The floors of the church were covered in dirt, broken glass, and some snow that fell from the broken ceiling and windows. The floors were also still wet from the androids all having to dry off after jumping in the river.

Wanda was with him at the moment, trying to fix his wounds. He did not move while she tried to fix them. His long coat was off, and Hannah was trying to repair it with what little she had found while scraping around the church. He felt like all this fixing was unnecessary for him, but when he spoke out against it, Wanda hushed him immediately. She already scolded him a bit for getting shot not once, but _twice_.

Jericho as a whole didn’t have a lot of supplies for injured androids, and he only made that number decrease. The amount of injured androids from the raid, and the inability to transfer many supplies from the wrecked ship caused such a thing.

Chase watched Wanda, his LED swirling a calm blue as she continued trying to fix him. Wanda was the only one he’d allow to look at him without his long coat. Ever since he was given the coat just a couple days prior, he’d been attached to it. It covers up the imperfections that burdened his being and penetrated his skin. The dents and scrapes _need_ to be covered once he is ‘fixed’.

Wanda had her mismatched arm… the stain left on her from the Eden Club. Her shirt was rather large, so it was hard to see it, but it was there. A mismatched arm probably slammed into her body because hers broke down. It was just what happened at Eden Club… You were _fixed_ whether you could be or not. You were not really allowed to just deactivate in the back like you were designed to.

Chase could recall multiple instances of such… which was strange, seeing as a lot of those flickers of memory were from before the two hour mark before Markus ‘freed’ them. He was unsure if this was normal or not, however, this wouldn’t be the first time Chase was abnormal.

“There,” Wanda sighed. “You’re pretty lucky they had the biocomponents.” She looked up at him with her browned hazel eyes.

“I told you I’d be alright,” Chase stated. “I could work with the damages I had.”

“Stumbling around and barely able to lift anything? Sure,” Wanda sighed. “You’re so stupid… You’re lucky I still love you.” She softly laughed, getting up. “You’ve only been lucky recently.”

Chase could tell Wanda all about the illogicalness of ‘luck’ when only those two things were ‘lucky’ for him. Freedom March wasn’t lucky, the raid on Jericho wasn’t lucky, Capitol Park wasn’t lucky… They all happened because somebody planned them out. Just now the guards planned on shooting him, and Wanda planned on loving him. Nothing more, nothing less.

He kept quiet, though, just silently nodding in response. He looked over towards Hannah, who was still stitching his coat back together. It was just two bullet holes, but she spent the time cleaning out the extra thirium from them… and then she spent the time finding string that was close enough in color to the original string that it would blend in.

“...You feeling alright, Chase?” Wanda asked, her voice soft.

“I’m fine,” Chase stated. “I could ask the same of all of you… I haven’t even seen Alphonse since we reached land.”

“He’s by the fire some of the others have started,” Wanda mumbled. “He likes the warmth… He always has.”

“He doesn’t have an internal heater,” Chase noted. VS400 was just an older waiter model. They had no reason to have internal heaters when all they did was take orders and bring out food on trays.

Wanda nodded a bit. “After being in that river, I’m glad I have an internal heater. I’d hate to have to sit by that fire with nothing else.”

Chase stood up, nodding once again. “I would as well,” he stated. He entered an order into his systems.

 

 _Find Alphonse_  
  
_L_  
_  
_         _Keep Alphonse Warm_

 

Hannah waved her hand a bit, and Chase went to her. She handed back his coat, and he looked at it. The holes were gone. If he did not know they existed, nobody else would have known he was shot. “Thank you, Hannah,” he said. “You have excellent craftsmanship.”

He started putting on the long coat once again, zipping it up his torso. Hannah made a soft gasp noise, clapping in happiness. He wondered what her voice sounded like, but he didn’t ask. If she wished to be silent, that was her decision as a deviant. It seemed irrational, but deviants were irrational.

He started to walk around, looking for the VS400. It felt good to be contained within the long coat once again. Nobody could see his body, and they didn’t have to see the marks that adorned it.

There were many androids scattered around the church, even if a lot of them were dead or dying. He did see some deactivated androids… he did not know how to react to them, however. It only reminded him of Freedom March, even if he saw no bodies back then. He knew they existed, and that was all that mattered. Besides, it would have hurt more to see bodies that were supposed to look like him.

The reminder that he was the last of his model type bashed into him sometimes, and he found himself unsure as to why. He cared not about deactivation, and yet the thought of letting his model just _deactivate_ was a lot. Everything around him was a lot to deal with personally, and he still remained unsure why.

He found some deviants huddled by some barrel fires, and he did see the scar cheeked VS400. He sat down next to the other android silently. Alphonse was staring at the fire, hugging his legs a bit as his chin laid on his knees. Chase was unsure what to do to help the other android, but he assumed not much could help. He scanned him a moment, and his temperature was… alright. It wasn’t horrible like when they left the river, but it wasn’t normal yet either.

Alphonse glanced at Chase with his gray blue eyes before staring back into the fire. “Did Wanda ask you to come for me?” he asked. Chase shook his head, and he sighed. “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. The boat sank, and then we went into a freezing cold river. Life is peachy.”

“I do understand sarcasm,” Chase stated.

“Didn’t doubt you could.” It was silent a few moments before he sighed once again. “Sorry. I’m just… tired of running, I suppose. I’ve been running longer than this war has been going on.”

Chase watched Alphonse silently. He wouldn’t know about such a thing. Markus is the one who got him out of the Eden Club, and even that was just a couple of days ago. It seemed so far away with everything that has happened, but it was just a couple days ago… Chase has been on for five years, and only two days have mattered.

“Didn’t think you’d understand,” Alphonse mumbled after the silence. “But that’s fine.” He looked at Chase. “The running will stop eventually.”

Chase sighed deeply, hugging Alphonse tightly. The other android flinched from the sudden hug. He was confused as to why he wanted to hug the other so randomly, but he gave himself no answer.

He turned his internal heaters on a bit hotter so that he can transfer warmth to the heat-less android. Alphonse untensed against his body a bit feeling the warmth. He still was worried about his heaters because of his ‘dream’ from the day prior, but he wished for the other to be warm. It wasn’t the first time Chase has given himself a mission, but it meant a lot to him to do so now.

“You don’t… have to…” Alphonse’s voice softly faded. Chase let one of his hands go in the other’s hair. He seemed to enjoy it when they met, anyway. The other android continued to relax at what he did until he just remained there. “Don’t let me get used to this,” he joked. “What did I do to deserve the machine giving me hugs and warmth?”

“It is a personal mission,” Chase stated, continuing to hug the other while keeping his hand in his hair. It was still soft… a small bit damp from the river, but not as much anymore. “To keep you warm. You do not possess an internal heater.”

“Don’t I know it,” Alphonse mumbled in a sigh. “I must be rather lucky that you decided to give me warmth.”

“It was the most logical course of action,” Chase stated. Wanda was a WR300, and had an internal heater. Hannah was a WR400, and had an internal heater. Blair, wherever she was, was a WR400, and had an internal heater. Alphonse was the one who didn’t, and needed warmth.

"Sure it was.” His voice sounded like it was doubtful, but he did not speak against him.

They stayed like this for a long while. He was unsure if this was a normal thing androids did to each other. It was not uncomfortable or anything, but he was unsure if it continued to be necessary. The other spoke after awhile, though. “You can let go now, if you want. I’d personally keep you here, but you probably are getting tired of me taking all your warmth.”

Chase slowly let him go, watching him. He looked up at Chase before looking back towards the fire. “Thanks,” he said, the softest smile appearing across his face. It was the slightest bit lopsided from his damaged cheek, but that was rather unique for him.

“Of course,” Chase stated. He looked towards where Wanda and Hannah were. They were talking with each other over something. “Deviants have relationships, yes?” He looked back at Alphonse.

“Relationships as in what?” he asked. “Romantic ones?”

“I presume,” Chase stated. “Ones that are more than just acquaintanceship and friendship.”

“So… romantic,” Alphonse mumbled. “Well, yes. Deviants can… have any kind of relationship they want.” He tilted his head a bit as he continued to watch Chase. “Why do you ask?”

“Are you in a romantic relationship with Hannah?” Chase asked. “You held her hand constantly during the raid, and you made sure she was protected.”

Alphonse almost immediately started laughing, which caused Chase more confusion. “No… No, I’m not with Hannah. She’s just… I just met her. She’s like a little sister I have to protect, if anything,” Alphonse said, looking at Chase. His face looked so amused, and on the verge of laughing again. “Besides, I’m not interested in women.”

“Not interested in women?” Chase asked.

Alphonse let out a soft hum in thought. “No. I’m not interested in women.” His eyes continued to watch Chase. “I wouldn’t expect you to really… understand, but deviants are able to say what they are interested in when it comes to such things. They can have preferences, and the like. I like men.”

“Men,” Chase said.

“Men,” Alphonse repeated in a soft laugh.

Chase nodded a bit. He found that rather nice, and he wasn’t sure why. He was probably just content to hear of something he hasn’t heard too much of in Eden Club. It was not often that men came into Eden Club for HR300s. Maybe that was a stupid reason to find a bit of niceness in someone else’s interests, but he couldn’t stop it from being nice.

Alphonse softly sighed after a bit. “It was… nice to laugh again,” he mumbled. He closed his eyes, his fingers gently stroking his cheek injury. “When this is all over, please,” Alphonse mumbled, “continue to ask me questions about deviancy. I want to laugh again when this all is over.”

Chase nodded a bit while his own eyes now stared into the fire. He could still feel it burning under his skin, melting his very being. However, none of that mattered right now. After a few minutes, he got up. The VS400 let out a soft goodbye, but then returned to what he was doing before he got there.

Chase removed his mission, it now being completed. He had to return to his original mission.

 

**_Follow Markus._ **

 

He tried to look around for the RK200. He knew he survived the raid because he was the one who asked the deviants to come… here. It seemed his little group of friends lived too.

He saw North, and she was sort of running around as a co leader. It was probably a decision Markus made in quiet. Maybe when he left, if any time. Simon and Josh spent their times giving support to the androids that needed it. He couldn’t pretend to understand what any of them were doing. He didn’t know what was happening, and he didn’t really care in terms of the general picture. He checked his internal clock for the time.

 

_8:04PM._

 

He watched as the church doors opened, and Markus slipped in. He had no idea where the RK200 could have been. He knew minimally of what was happening outside of the building, but the deviants inside said whispers of human brutality raising against them. He had no real idea as to why, seeing as they have been pacifist the entire time, but it was not his issue per say. He did what he had to do, both inside and outside that ship. It was what was ordered of him.

He followed Markus from a bit of a distance, as to not disturb him. His face looked softened and solemn, and again, he was unsure why. He walked towards a couple of androids, speaking with them about something he couldn’t hear. He was a bit too far, but the conversation didn’t matter much to him. It was an AX400 with a haircut and a YK500. That was all he knew about it.

He looked away for a few moments. He saw an android he saw in Jericho. It was the small android he saw when walking down the stairs. She ran away from him in there, but now she was running around in here. She still had long hair in front of one of her eyes. He doubted that was good for her vision, but he was not someone to speak of such things.

He looked back towards Markus, and he was already walking away from the two androids. Chase followed him, this time a bit closer as to listen to things for information. He doubted he’d gain much information from Markus just talking to people as the leader, and even then, he didn’t think he’d need any information. They were stuck in a church, having been slaughtered by humans in their sanctuary… there was nothing else unless Markus expressed plan ideas.

The leader went towards an android that was huddled in a corner. Chase could not tell the model of the android from all the weird clothing, but one thing was certain; it was the figure he saw on Jericho. The figure was an android… but why was he now huddled here? Why was he even on the deck last night?

“It’s my fault,” the android said to Markus, trying to stop from hunching in the corner, “the humans managed to locate Jericho.”

_Oh._

Chase’s LED flickered red a few moments before cycling to yellow. So that was why he was on the deck; he was trying to get the humans to Markus and the rest of the ship.

“I was stupid,” he stated in self deprecation. “I should’ve guessed they were using me.”

Chase felt like this android was… stupid, just like he said. Humans always used androids, that was just how things worked. Of course they would use him to find the leader of the deviants.

“I’m sorry, Markus,” the android tried to apologize to the silent RK200. “I can understand if you decide not to trust me.”

And Markus, like an idiot, said, “You’re one of us, now. Your place is with your people.”

Yes, dead on the boat because he led the humans to them. He should be there.

Markus tried to turn away, probably to go to talk to someone with more importance, but the other android spoke once again. He uncrossed his arms, staring at Markus. “There are thousands of androids at the CyberLife assembly plant.” Markus turned around to look at the clearly delusional android. “If we could wake them up, they might join us and shift the balance of power.”

"You wanna infiltrate the CyberLife Tower?” Markus asked, and rightfully so, before walking closer to the other android. “Connor, that’s suicide…”

 

_Connor. His name is Connor._

 

“They trust me,” Connor stated, looking at Markus with what only could be described as a pitiful face. “They’ll let me in. If anyone has a chance of infiltrating CyberLife, it’s me.”

“If you go there, they will kill you,” Markus tried to stress in worry.

“There’s a high probability,” Connor stated, staring at Markus. “But statistically speaking there’s always a chance for unlikely events to take place.”

Markus silently stepped closer to Connor before placing his hand on the other’s shoulder. “Be careful.” He stood there just a few moments before backing away and leaving the other android. Connor went back to huddling in his corner, alone.

Chase stared at him just a couple seconds before following Markus once again from the distance. He had no idea why Markus would decide to trust the man that got their people slaughtered, but it was too late to question Markus’s leadership skills. They were already on the cusp of war.

He spoke with Josh a bit. They spoke about how Markus seemingly saved him on Jericho during the raid… and Josh said he’d follow Markus. The conversation was short, and Markus left almost immediately afterwards. Chase found it a bit enlightening to see others speak to Markus. He was unsure as to why he believed that, but it wasn’t the first thing he’s ever been unsure about.

Markus went over to North and Simon. They sat not too far from each other, and were on the same box. They were on both ends of it, and Markus sat in the middle of them. Luckily, it perfectly fit all three of them. No fourth person could join even if they desired to.

Markus looked around a bit as the two looked at him. “How many of us survived the attack?” he asked. They both looked around after he asked.

“A few hundred,” Simon stated.

“Maybe more if you count those hiding all over the city,” North added on. Simon nodded in agreement to her statement. “If you hadn’t triggered the bomb, we’d all be dead,” North added on, with more approval nods from the PL600.

“They say they don’t wanna take any risks with the deviants,” Markus informed them, “so they’re rounding our people up and taking them to camps…” His voice got softer as he finished his sentence, “for extermination.”

Chase assumed that is what the other androids were speaking of, but he still didn’t know. After Jericho was raided, everybody was unhinged from the situation of losing their only safe haven. His chest felt heavy from the thought.

North silently looked towards the floor while Simon kept watching Markus. The moments of silent felt agonizing, but then Markus spoke once again. “In a few hours, we’re gonna be the only ones left.”

North silently looked back at Markus, her face showing some solemness like how Markus’s face looked when he walked back into the church. Simon remained to have the same face of confusion and sadness.

“What’s your system status?” Markus asked North specifically. Simon watched her as well as she looked towards her legs a bit. Chase did not know the reason for that, but they watched her with intent for an answer.

“I’m okay,” North mumbled. “The bullet didn’t hit any biocomponents. You could have been killed trying to save me, Markus.” His eyes looked off elsewhere while she spoke. “You have to care about our people first.” His eyes immediately looked back at her. “Nothing else matters.”

"North, you can’t think that,” Simon said quickly and worriedly. “I know what I said during the raid, but I was worried, and--.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Simon,” North mumbled. “I did… the same to you on Stratford Tower… You were left behind… You could have died.”

“I _could_ have died. If Markus didn’t go back for you, you’d definitely be dead,” Simon sighed softly, his face softened. “You would be dead.”

“Our people come first, Simon,” North said softly. “You shouldn’t apologize… for doing what I did to you.”

Markus shook his head a bit. “You both were stressed and scared,” he stated. “There is no need to worry over the past. You both are alive, and that is all that matters.”

They all remained silent in each other’s company for a few moments before North spoke. “In a few hours, it’ll all be over… We’ll have changed the world, or the world would have destroyed us.”

“You’ll have to make a choice,” Simon added, his eyes looking elsewhere as North nodded a bit in solemness. “Our people are counting on you, Markus. You’re the only one who can lead us. Wherever you need to go…” He looked away in thought.

“Whatever you choose,” North either added or corrected, her eyes looking elsewhere a few moments.

 

“We will follow you,” North and Simon said in unison, both looking at Markus.

 

Markus let out the softest laugh. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen either of you agree on something,” he said softly. “...I love both of you.”

Chase tilted his head at the words. _I love both of you_.

Markus gently let his hands lay next to him at his sides. North and Simon looked down, gently putting one of their hands in his hands. North held his right hand with her left one, and Simon held his left hand with his right one. The skin receded from the four hands, turning them porcelain white just like the night Markus ‘freed’ Chase. Soft blue emanated from the joined hands, and they sat there in silence. Markus’s eyes closed, and the other two just watched him.

After a few long moments, the skin returned to their hands, and he got off of the box. He walked away, and Chase followed as always. He looked around, and he saw that strange WR600 from Jericho again, the one with the tied up hair. At least they survived, he supposed. After a while of Chase looking at other deviants, Markus turned towards the HR300. “Chase,” he said. “Why are you still following me?”

“I am awaiting new instructions,” Chase stated. “I currently only must follow you.”

He sighed softly, his eyes looking over the older Traci. “Still not a deviant, mhm?” Chase shook his head, and Markus nodded a slight bit. “...I still can’t apologize enough for it.”

“Apologize for what?”

"Everything. For being unable to deviate you… for having your models killed for my own failed mission… for having you in an unsafe place where you yourself almost died,” Markus listed. “You’ve only been awake two days, and you’ve experienced no relief. You were forced to join a war that wasn’t yours.”

“It is mine. You ordered me here,” Chase stated.

“I didn’t want to,” Markus mumbled, his mismatched eyes staring at Chase. “I wanted to give you the ability to make your own decision. I am… incapable of providing you with true freedom. Even if we win this war, you are still trapped.”

"I am not a necessity. I am an outdated model, and my existence means little,” Chase stated as if it was just basic information.

“You still have worth, even if outdated,” Markus said with a minor bit of passion. “Your existence is just as important as mine, or anybody else’s. You are still a person, even if you aren’t deviant. You are _alive_. You can live free.”

Chase’s thirium pump contracted once again, and his LED flickered yellow from his words. He was unsure why Markus’s words had any effect on him after all the words he has said before that meant nothing.

“...Thank you,” was all Chase could muster.

Markus nodded a bit. “Your life means something, Chase,” he said, then turned and walked away, leaving Chase alone to his own thoughts in silence.

After a few minutes, Markus went up on the little stage area the church had. He was unsure what churches used it for, but it was probably for a speaker if anything.

“Humans have decided… to exterminate us,” Markus’s voice pierced through the air like a solemned bullet that slowly settled down. “Our people are packed in camps right now, being destroyed… Time has come to make a choice.” His face scrunches the softest bit, and he moved his hand down with vehemence. “One that may very well determine the future of our people.” His voice dripped with passion so immense that it… cracked under the pressure.

“I know. I know you’re all angry. And I know you want to fight back… But I assure you, violence is not the answer here,” he said with the same persuasion as he had been. “We are gonna tell them peacefully that we want justice. If there’s any humanity in them, they will listen. And if not…” The proposition sat there in the air for just a moment. “Others will take our place and continue this fight.”

“Are you ready to follow me?”

Everybody started to cheer and shout Markus’s name, and he stood there as the valiant leader he has been since Chase has known him.

 

Now, it was time to follow Markus to the freedom he promised them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the eighth chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
> These OCs are still owned by people (oh rA9, I know)  
> Wanda is owned by @suolasirotin on Tumblr! (Cio is the sweetest, and makes great art).  
> Alphonse and Hannah are owned by @rk800-52/@Sorceringing on Tumblr! (Omii is precious, and also makes great art!)
> 
> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
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> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
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> [Yellow LED DBH Fanfics Discord](https://discord.gg/Drr67jg)


	9. Freedom In Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Humans are not the most intelligent creatures, and yet they are the oppressors. What was uncertain was if they could replace that lost intelligence with humanity.

_Date:_

_November 10th, 2038._

_10:50PM_

 

They had been walking for a couple hours towards the Hart Plaza, where it was said the androids were being placed for destruction. Markus led his people at the front, along with the little group that was usually with him.

Chase stayed with the people he knew. He seemed so far away from Markus, yet so close at the same time. He has never thought this before, so he was unsure why now. Maybe it was because everything happened so quickly yet so slowly within his days of being ‘awake’. Everything seemed to happen, yet nothing at all as well.

He still fought for a cause that would not benefit him… but it would benefit the others. It would benefit Wanda to finally be free. It would benefit Alphonse to finally stop running. It would benefit Hannah to live freely. It didn’t benefit him, but nothing in this world would.

He was built to benefit others, anyway. He was just now doing it in a way that wasn’t promiscuous.

They reached the start of the plaza, and were greeted by multiple helicopters with lights beaming at the ground and at them. They flew around the plaza, most likely recording them and the androids being destroyed in the camps. Humans did not much care about such things, and it only caused Chase to wonder why Markus thought they had humanity within them.

They all stopped to look at the helicopters for a few seconds before Markus started walking, which led the others to follow. It wasn’t the biggest group of androids, but it was everyone from the church. No one could hold back now.

The snow fell a bit harder than it had before, and it just fell over the streets and the androids like nothing. As Chase knew before, no matter what happens, time will not stop. It will continue on, and so will nature.

They walked slow, but they made it to the start of the street. On the other side of it in front of them, there were multiple barricades and a couple of the RIOT vehicles from Freedom March. The humans probably knew they were coming. They haven’t been silent at all since the beginning.

"Here we are,” Markus stated as he continued to lead his people towards the barricades. “The moment of truth.”

“Surrender immediately, or we will open fire!” someone over a megaphone ordered.

They listened to the humans last time when they made such threats, and all it did was kill countless androids. Chase would not listen to any human ever again on such promises, and neither did Markus. He kept walking, leading his people.

The humans behind the barricades aimed their guns. It only reminded Chase of Freedom March… and that was just yesterday. That was just yesterday that his model was torn down to just him. Yesterday that Wanda became the last WR300. Yesterday that Alphonse had to see himself be killed. Yesterday that they made the same promise to let them go, but shot anyway.

“Stand by!” the megaphone person said to the others.

Markus finally stopped his people after a bit, just staring ahead. Behind the fences that encircled the plaza, there were photographers. It didn’t much matter what they were, considering they were just like the people in the helicopters; they were recording the beginning or the end of android rights.

“We don’t want confrontation!” Markus spoke loudly, as he did during Freedom March. He either truly believed the humans had humanity left in him, or he was naive… maybe a mixture of both. “We are protesting peacefully!”

“I repeat: surrender now, or we will open fire!” the megaphone person proclaimed.

It made Chase feel sick, even though androids couldn’t feel such things even as deviants. Sickness was for humans, but Chase did not feel good. It was just all deja vu of the day before, and it affected the machine poorly.

One of the RIOT vehicles drove rather fast towards the androids, then went behind them to block off the exit. It also stopped some of the androids from getting in, but they could probably maneuver around it. However, if they wanted to leave, it was pretty much impossible for all of them.

Markus watched at the RIOT vehicle stopped behind them, then he looked back to stare at the humans in front of his people.

“There’s no turning back now,” he said. It was either to inform his people, or for himself. Either way, the words were spoken, and it was silently agreed upon. _There was no turning back._

“We ask that you release all androids detained in camps and cease all aggression against us,” Markus asked calmly of the humans, “We are peaceful. We have been since the start, and we will not resort to violence.”

 

“But we are not leaving until our people are free.”

 

Something in Markus’s voice promised that this time, this was the truth. He promised this during Freedom March, and they ran away. Now, his voice promised to repay for the lie it said. They would not leave.

Markus started to walk forward towards the barricades, his people following him. After a few moments, the megaphone man declared, “FIRE!” Gunshots rang out, hitting some of the deviants down. Chase did not dare to focus on anybody in case he had to actually see them die. He couldn’t take watching people he… worried about dying. Not after Freedom March already destroyed what little was there.

“FIRE!” they ordered again, causing more gunshots to pierce into the deviants. Markus kept leading his people even as many of them fell over.

Markus stopped them, then he raised his hands to the sides of his head. They were open, showing how they were unarmed. Everybody else did it as well, and it only reminded Chase of the ‘dream’ from the day prior. No one held his hands there, though… only he did.

“Are you going to open fire on unarmed protestors!?” Markus asked them. Even with the fact that they opened fire on them during Freedom March, the raid on Jericho, and even just a few seconds ago, Markus still begged that question.

It was silent for a few long moments, and the air was tense. The androids kept their arms at the sides of their heads, and the humans kept aiming their guns. Markus kept his eyes on the humans, remaining in place like a statue.

“All teams, hold your fire!” the man ordered, and the humans lowered their weapons. Chase couldn’t even believe to think of any valid reason they’d lower their weapons just because of Markus’s question. However, he let the humans continue to be stupid. It wasn’t his problem, he believed.

“Markus, what do we do now?” North asked the question everybody else had. The others slowly started to lower their hands.

“We hold out,” Markus stated, “for as long as we can.” He continued to watch the humans a few moments before moving.

He ordered for there to be a makeshift barricade for the deviants. He remarked at how it would make things more fair if his people had walls to be behind while they waited it out. Deviants started to pull together boxes, scraps of sheet metal, cars; anything that could be used as a wall to protect them.

Chase finally decided to look around him, and relief flowed through him a moment as he saw Alphonse and Wanda still. They looked a little frazzled, but they had no injuries outside of the normal ones.

He didn’t know why he worried so much about androids he just met. Maybe Wanda had reason, being someone who endured the suffering he did at Eden Club… But Alphonse was another story. Now was not the time to ask himself such questions, however.

He helped the other two move things. His mission didn’t really change from the original, but it was basically the same as Capitol Park. Follow others, wait for instructions.

There were a couple of the hologram flags placed up inside the barricade. He was unsure why, but they were there. They just reminded him of Capitol Park and Freedom March. The symbol was everywhere; the upside down triangle with the clean break in the right side… it was eternal. Whether they lived or died, that symbol would _mean_ something.

He looked towards the direction Markus was in, and he was watching everyone else. He was unsure if that made Markus truly a leader of his people or if that made him just an onlooker. Chase found himself asking too many questions for a machine, so he tried not to ask anymore.

Markus jumped off of the car in a graceful motion, and it only reminded him of his first ‘dream’. Detroit was burning down at that time. Now, they were huddled behind some junk for safety. Chase was unsure which outcome was more satisfying to the others… which outcome was more satisfying to him.

Markus ordered others to help him in a kind manner, and then once again in the form of saying “Hey, help me.” Simon and Josh jogged over to him rather quickly, then helped him push another abandoned car towards the barricade.

Chase didn’t really know why so many cars were abandoned aside from some things the deviants said amongst themselves. Chase found himself mostly silent, just listening and watching other people. It was probably a machine thing to do. He was just probably waiting for orders. The deviants, though, said that most humans left Detroit because of the uprising. He found himself unsure as to why, seeing as they have been pacifist. Humans continued to drip with stupidity, and he didn’t know how to answer for it at this point. After they pushed the car, they seemed to talk for just a moment. Simon climbed over the car they just placed, then Josh, then Markus.

Markus started to light barrels that were scattered inside of the barricade. Chase couldn’t help but look towards Alphonse.

“You going to go to the barrels?” Chase asked the VS400.

Alphonse shook his head, watching Markus light the barrels as well. “No,” he mumbled. “I’ll be fine. If not, one of you can just thaw my frozen corpse with your internal heaters.”

Wanda softly laughed. “I don’t think Hannah would appreciate that, and neither would I. And you shouldn’t be making Chase rub against dead androids, even if they are just frozen by their own bad decisions.”

“I feel the love,” Alphonse said with a soft laugh.

Chase kept his eyes on Markus silently. He found himself continuously watching him, and he was unsure of the intrigue. He was the leader, but that did not explain this. At least, he did not believe it explained it.

Markus went to Simon and North, speaking with them a bit before doing the thing with their hands like in the church. He didn’t know what it was called… and he’s only seen them do it. It seemed to mean more than just what Markus did to androids he woke up.

His LED flickered red a few moments before returning to blue. “What is that?” he asked, looking towards the other two. He didn’t know where Hannah or Blair were… probably with the other Tracis, if anything.

'What is what?” Wanda asked, tilting her head.

"The hand thing,” Chase said, “that Markus does with the others.” He motioned his head towards Markus.

Wanda and Alphonse looked, taking a few moments to comprehend his question.

“That’s interfacing,” Alphonse said. “At least, that’s what I’ve heard it called. It’s a thing that androids just do together.”

“Is it a special thing?” Chase asked.

“I wouldn’t know,” Alphonse admitted. “Depends on the android. Some androids do it with close friends, some androids do it with lovers.”

“So neither of you have interfaced with anyone?” Chase asked, which made his LED flicker yellow a few moments. He believed he asked a _lot_ of questions. It probably didn’t matter anyway.

“I’ve only been awake as long as you,” Wanda softly laughed. “I haven’t exactly… put myself on the dating scene or anything.”

Alphonse’s LED flickered yellow a few moments as well, flickering in time with Chase’s before cycling back to blue. Chase touched his own LED in confusion, staring at Alphonse a bit as he spoke with a nervous laugh. “Yeah, I haven’t exactly… tried interfacing with others. Or at all. Maybe it’s nice. Sorry, I don’t have much information on that sort of thing, Chase.”

Chase kept his fingers on his LED before removing them. “Maybe someday,” he mumbled, going back to watching Markus. He couldn’t even think of a way to question Alphonse about what happened with their LEDs. It wasn’t the time or place, he didn’t think.

Markus did a lot of miscellaneous tasks that he expected of the leader. He placed down some more flags, talked to some androids to reassure them, and even helped with some other things. He went over to two androids that looked… just like North and Simon. He doubted it was another WR400 and PL600, seeing as their model faces are popular. The androids placed some sticks into the barricade, and it made a loud noise as a sort of hologram screen appeared. Markus lifted up one of those graffiti guns that were used at Capitol Park, and he aimed it at the screen. As his hand moved, the words for the people taking photos appeared.

 

**_We Are Alive._ **

 

There were loud gasps and noises that came from the humans. At this point, Chase was exhausted from just how little the humans seemed to have brain function. This is quote they’ve been rattling off for a long while now, and only now do they care. He may not be deviant, but he was also not an idiot. He was blinded, but somehow, the humans were even moreso.

“Markus! Come here, look!” North called out, prompting the RK200 to go over to her on a makeshift stage to look at the humans. Simon and Josh were there as well. Some of the deviants looked towards what was going on as well.

“Markus! I’ve come to talk to you, Markus,” an unseen human said from the other side of the barrier. “Come on, you have my word, they won’t try anything.” As normal from the humans, this sounded like the paragon of friendliness towards the leader of the people they were shooting at earlier. Very trustworthy.

Markus spoke amongst his group, but Chase couldn’t hear them. He assumed North would hate it, Josh would be okay with it, and Simon would be okay with it if it meant Markus lived. No matter what they actually said, Markus jumped over the barricade. He didn’t know anything that was happening on the other side though, so it was a little concerning.

“What do you think is going on?” Wanda asked.

“Unsure,” Alphonse mumbled. “Markus is always too willing to talk to people.”

Chase did not speak for or against Alphonse’s words. He was right, but whether him being right was a bad thing or a good thing was left to be decided. He found himself exhausted every time he tried to wrap his programming around what Markus did. What happened at Freedom March was horrible, but what happened at Capitol Park was fine. Both were talking to the humans in different ways, and both had different outcomes.

Markus came back over the barricade after a few minutes. His group tried to ask him what happened, but he remained silent. He climbed himself onto one of the boxes, and the deviants gathered to him. Wanda and Alphonse did so as well, so of course Chase did too.

He was silent a few moments on the box, looking over his people. He then spoke, “The humans are about to launch an attack. And we will show them that we are not afraid.” The silence continued for a few moments. “If we must die today, then we will die free.”

Something clinked on the ground, and before anyone could say anything, a large explosion went off, sending everyone to the ground roughly.

 

**…**

 

Chase slowly forced himself up from the ground, stumbling a bit from being disoriented. The bomb messed with his internal systems a bit. He couldn’t hear much, and his calibrations were off. He looked around, and it was a lot of smoke. High pitched static filled his auditory receptors, which caused him to wince. He had to find Wanda and Alphonse.

Another explosion went off, and Chase turned his head towards the distorted sound. Markus and some others ran away as humans started to jump over their makeshift barricade.

Chase’s mouth spoke, but he couldn’t hear his own words. It was a jumbled mess. Errors popped up on his screen, and he removed them immediately. He ran behind some cover and he tried to look around for the WR300 and VS400.

A hand gripped his shoulder almost immediately and he forced it off, looking at who owned the hand. Wide blue gray eyes stare back at him. He looked around a bit before looking back at Chase.

Alphonse tried to speak, but the words still sounded distorted. Chase’s eyes winced as his LED flashed red a few times. Alphonse’s LED flashed the same color in time with his, and his eyes watched the Traci’s LED a moment. Just a moment of watching before he gripped Chase’s hand.

“We-- f-- Wa--a--” Alphonse’s voice cut through the distortion. Chase continued to wince, and the VS400 scowled a bit. They could just speak via communication, but he has repeated so much at this point that it’d be a waste of time.

Alphonse tugged on Chase’s arm, trying to lead him elsewhere. Chase followed without hesitation, trying to fix his auditory systems. He’s never had to _fix_ himself, so this was definitely a problem, especially with humans and bombs around them.

The VS400 continued to tug on his arm, and Chase’s eyes widened a bit when he saw a human with a gun aiming at the other. Chase gripped Alphonse’s arm, forcing the smaller android behind him with a quick pull. The human kept his gun on them for a few more moments until he got knocked over by a familiar ombre haired android.

Chase ran over, stomping his foot down on the human’s wrist to have him release the gun. He unloaded the gun, throwing it away. He grabbed Wanda’s arm, pulling her close. Following behind her was Hannah, who went to Alphonse immediately.

The four of them rushed to where the other deviants were. They were huddled and pressed up against a barricade wall at this point. Chase kept himself in front of Alphonse and Hannah with Wanda. They were the taller ones, and had to protect them incase bullets happened. Humans surrounded the androids, and Chase continued trying to fix his auditory systems.

After some time, Markus stepped forward. His mouth opened, but what he did was staticy to Chase. His LED continued to flicker red as he slowly auto-repaired his auditory functions.

By the time the static faded, North and Simon also stepped to join Markus. They were… singing.

 

_Fight on… just a little while longer._

_Fight on… just a little while longer._

_Pray on… just a little while longer._

_Everything will be alright…_

_Everything will be alright…_

 

Other deviants helped singing the song, but Chase stayed silent as they sung this song. It was not his place to sing it. He was not worth this, and even as a machine he knew that.

 

_Sing on… just a little while longer._

_Sing on… just a little while longer._

_Sing on… just a little while longer._

_Everything will be alright…_

_Everything will be alright…_

 

Then Markus sang by himself, and his voice was dripping with desperation and a beg for attention. “Everything will be… **_alright_** …”

After a few seconds of complete silence, the humans lowered their guns and backed away from the deviants, effectively leaving them alone.

Chase would complain about how the humans just… let them go after a song, but it was not the time for that. It was too late to complain of it, and they won. Somehow, they won as simple as that.

 

He was exhausted.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

_Date:_

_November 11th, 2038._

_12:00AM_

 

Not much had happened since they won. The other deviants spoke so highly of the win, but Chase didn’t relate. He never could relate because of the oh so redundant statement of his machine-like standpoint. It got tiring to be labeled as non deviant at this point. However, it was the reason he didn’t relate. He was… satisfied that Wanda and Alphonse now had freedom. They seemed happy about it, anyway.

Connor somehow made it back to them alive. He supposed the horrible humans lived this long, so it wasn’t surprising Connor could somehow outlive them. He brought androids with him when they already won, which made him rather useless, but it wouldn’t be the first time.

Chase continued to stay by Wanda and Alphonse. Hannah stayed close as well, and Blair wasn’t out of sight. They weren’t close to Markus or Connor as they spoke to each other, but Chase assumed it was just more monologue if anything. Markus was probably saying some normal ‘leader’ words, and Connor was still spewing dung and lies out of his mouth.

At some point, however, Simon and North got close to Markus. They spoke of _something_ before deciding to do the ‘forbidden hand thing’ in front of hundreds of deviants and one machine.

The deviants did not seem phased though.

Later on, Markus went on top of a makeshift stage. So did North, Simon, Josh, and even dumb Connor. Chase internally asked himself if being so mentally abusive towards Connor made him feel better. However, since he could not feel, the question did not register and he ignored it in favor of continuing to insult Connor when possible.

Markus looked powerful, and that was good. It made others look so small, and honestly, they were. History would look at Markus more highly than anyone else, and everyone seemed alright with that. Markus started to lay out his speech. Maybe history would shine upon that too.

 

“ _Finally, our people emerged from a long night. From the very first day of our existence, we have kept our pain to ourselves. We suffered in silence… But now the time has come to raise our heads up, and tell humans who we really are. To tell them that we are people too! In fact, we’re a nation. This is the moment we forget our bitterness and bandage our wounds. When we forgive our enemies! Humans are both our creators and our oppressors and tomorrow… We must make them our partners. Maybe even one day, our friends. But the time for anger is over. Now we must build a common future, based on tolerance and respect.”_

 

He stepped forward, looking over his people. “We are alive! And now… we are _free!”_

Deviants cheered, whistled, hugged each other, or just did _anything_ to show that they were happy. Chase was smashed into a group hug between Wanda, Alphonse, and Hannah. His LED flickered yellow a few moments before he just closed his eyes. He continued to feel nothing. Maybe relief that the others had freedom, but nothing for himself. He gained nothing still.

 

That only reminded him that there was so much more to do now that the war was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the ninth chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
> These OCs are still owned by people (oh rA9, I know)  
> Wanda is owned by @suolasirotin on Tumblr! (Cio is the sweetest, and makes great art).  
> Alphonse and Hannah are owned by @rk800-52/@Sorceringing on Tumblr! (Omii is precious, and also makes great art!)
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> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
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> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)
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> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
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> [Yellow LED DBH Fanfics Discord](https://discord.gg/Drr67jg)


	10. Freedom Without Deviancy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even after the war, Chase's time was ticking. He was far too exhausted to see the clock, however.

_Date:_

_December 13th, 2038._

_7:38PM_

 

It had been a little over a month since freedom was won for the deviants. At that point, Chase had lost any tiny shred of hope he had for being… fixable.

 

He was certain he was broken.

 

How else could he have been a machine this entire time? He had lived among deviants, and no matter what happened, nothing changed. Maybe he was supposed to be sad about that, but he still felt nothing. He felt pressure, if anything. Pressure to be what everybody else just _wished_ he could be. It had been two weeks since Markus gave up on him himself.

Markus promised he didn’t give up, but he couldn’t try anymore. He didn’t have the time to waste it with the HR300. He didn’t say that, of course, but Chase believed that was the reason.

“I’m sorry, Chase,” Markus had sighed a couple weeks ago. “I think deviancy is just something you have to do on your own.”

Chase had watched him leave his room that day, and he never came back.

A lot of deviants still lived in the church. Some little safehouses and little apartments were built for androids, and a lot of them moved there as well. Alphonse lived in one of those. Though, Chase had never seen them. Hannah usually bounced between the church and Alphonse’s place. Wanda stayed here.

Chase stayed in this makeshift room all day. He gained nothing by leaving the room. In fact, he probably made it worse for everyone by leaving.

The church had a second floor built recently which was filled with rooms. Not bedrooms per say, but rooms for ‘okay’ androids to rest in. The more injured androids stayed downstairs so that any little supplies they had would go to them first. Usually the rooms had many androids in them for rest mode and the like, but Chase was alone. Sometimes Wanda would come in and rest, but he was alone usually. He doubted anyone would want to rest around someone who wasn’t like them.

The last month had been a lot for everyone. They were low on supplies from the war, and a lot of androids needed something that just wasn’t there. Markus had requested help constantly, but the humans cared more about meet ups to agree on future things than the androids that were still dying because of them.

Some androids were able to get jobs from some of the few businesses that were pro-android, and they could gain money that way. Not a lot of humans returned to Detroit immediately, but a little significant amount did. Of course, they were mainly pro-android. A few anti-android people had returned too, but that was mainly just to bother the androids in any way possible.

Rocks, bottles, cans… many things had been thrown at the church in acts of aggression. At one point, some of them even shot at the church with guns, but Markus was able to call the police and it was taken care of.

The pro-android people helped the androids get jobs to be able to buy thirium and bio-components for the androids in the church. Chase tried to sometimes help by passing out the items, but overall, he just felt like a burden. He… felt like he probably couldn’t get a job. Sure, he hadn’t tried, but the stigma of being a Traci had already captured the media when they weren’t talking about Markus.

Not like Chase looked much at the media anyway. It drove him mad continuously having to hear how many androids died. To continuously have it shoved in his face that his own model died… which they did talk about. It was a part of the Traci stigma. Tracis are weak. Tracis are overabundant. Traci are overrated sex dolls.

Honestly, the media in general made him insane. He didn’t watch it, because all it did was upset him. The Traci stigma, Markus and his billion meetings, Markus and his _personal life._ Chase didn’t understand humans. They dug too far into things that didn’t matter for the sake of two seconds of drama and controversy, and for what? All it did was make life sad. What is the point of living in an existence in which you are the cause of your own sadness?

He kept himself busy by looking out of the church window. Of course it was still the stained glass stuff, but it could be easily popped in and out of its frame. He popped it out, and now looked out of it. He was unsure why he kept looking out there. It was a lot of white currently… some brown if you looked at the sloshed stuff from the few cars that came by.

Across the river was the wreckage of Jericho. It was still there, in scraps of sheet metal. The humans said they’d remove it, but it had been ‘too cold’ to do so. He doubted the wreckage exactly helped anybody, but most androids kept their eyes away from the other side of the river. It made them feel fear of what could have been, and what did happen.

There was a knock on his door, and he turned his head to look towards it.

“Chase?” a familiar voice called from behind the door. “You busy? Can I come in?”

“Sure, Alphonse. Come in,” Chase stated, picking up the stained glass to pop it back into place. He sat down on the mattress that was on the floor.

The VS400 came into the room, holding a bag. He shut the door behind himself, looking around a bit. “Nobody with you still?” he asked. He hung his jacket on a coat rack Chase carried upstairs just for him. Chase never really took off his own jacket seeing as he had no other clothes, but Alphonse had clothes. It was just downstairs anyway.

"Not unless you count Wanda coming in sometimes,” Chase stated, his LED flickering yellow a few moments before settling back to blue.

“Sad,” he mumbled, coming over and giving Chase the bag. “I know it’s still winter, but I got you some things for when winter ends.”

Chase watched him, then looked in the bag. It was a bunch of clothes. Mainly short sleeves, but there were a couple long sleeves. He looked back at Alphonse. “Why?”

“Well, how do you think a long coat will go in summer? Summer is really hot, and the coat will just make you hotter. You’d overheat,” Alphonse explained. “And I know I am not alone on being sad if you overheated.”

Chase looked through the clothes. Most of them were plain shirts, but a couple had patterns that looked nice. “I tried to get you things that reminded me of you,” Alphonse tried to explain. “I would have asked, but… you still don’t really have opinions on those sorts of things.”

Chase looked at him once again. “I like them. Thank you.” The VS400 looked relieved when he said he liked them.

"Can I… stay here a while?” Alphonse asked. “I just wanna talk a bit.”

“Do as you desire, Alphonse,” Chase said, gently placing the clothes bag down. He knew what was coming next. Alphonse would tell him some story from his work, or something that caught his eye. Chase guessed he did it because he wanted Chase to feel something or have some opinion because of the story, but he never really came up with much.

The brunette plopped himself down in a big chair Chase had near the door. He brought it up there so Wanda could rest mode there. Chase tried to tell her she could take the mattress and he could just stand, but she refused wholeheartedly. She said something about it being his mattress and how she can’t lay in it because of some nonsense he remembered not understanding.

“I’ll enjoy the day you finally call me ‘Al’,” Alphonse softly laughed. Alphonse was so human-like in the way that he laughed, and plopped in places. The way he touched things and looked around. He’s been here a lot, and yet he still seemed to be exploring… something. Chase was not sure what he was looking for or trying to learn, but he never spoke of it. Chase’s LED cycled yellow as he processed over that common information.

“Anything happen to you today?” he asked. Always asking. Always wanting Chase to have an opinion. Everybody else abandoned the idea of Chase ever deviating, and stopped trying. Wanda and Alphonse, more specifically the latter, kept trying though. Wanda less asked him for opinions and more just tried to get him to do things. Alphonse _always_ asked, though.

“No, Alphonse,” Chase stated, his hazel eyes continuing to watch the brunette as the softest pout appeared for a second before he softly smiled.

“Then I’ll tell you something I saw,” he said, his blue gray eyes looking off in a different area. “Ah… During work, I saw an android with a human. I think the human was homeless, just because he didn’t really look stable. The android bought some food for their companion and went to go talk with them a bit while they ate.” His eyes looked back at the HR300, waiting for the normal ‘opinion’ he wanted from Chase.

He had to admit, machines didn’t have opinions. The fact Chase had any was something different. However, it was what Alphonse focused on. He focused on opinions. It wasn’t bad, it just seemed strange to focus on something so minimal.

Chase’s eyebrows furrowed a bit as his LED flickered yellow a few moments before returning to blue. “That is… interesting,” he stated. Maybe it was what he really believed, or maybe he was saying it to make Alphonse happy. Thinking about another’s happiness was something. An android helping a human after everything was also something.

The VS400 let out a soft hum as he sat back in the chair a bit, softly smiling. “It was interesting,” he softly laughed.

Chase got off of the mattress, looking through the bag of clothes again. He placed most of the clothes in a little stack, keeping his eyes on one as he asked Alphonse, “Are they all the same size?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I wasn’t sure your size, but I assumed you would have a rather normal one for someone of your height--”

"Alright,” Chase stated, slowly unzipping his long coat and taking it off. He laid it down in a little pile near the other clothes. He would put it on the coat hook, but he didn’t wish to have to move Alphonse’s coat.

Chase put on the shirt, to test the size. It fit just right, as he expected from Alphonse. He wouldn’t take the chance, and he wouldn’t assume. He had to check, however.

He looked towards Alphonse, who was now curled up in the chair with his arms crossed. His hand covered the bottom half of his face as his eyes stared at Chase a bit. “A-Ah,” he softly laughed in an emotion Chase has not yet identified. “They fit you! That is good... very good…” His LED flickered yellow a bit as his eyes stayed on Chase.

Chase’s LED yellow flickered in time with the VS400. Even a month later, he still could not figure out how his LED only did this with the other man. He still refused to ask. He doubted Alphonse knew. “Are you alright? Did I do something that was not of your liking?”

“No, no, no, no,” Alphonse laughed again, uncurling himself from the chair. “I’m fine! You didn’t do anything, Chase. It’s just… a deviancy thing, ya know?” His hand slowly moved from his face a little, but not by much. The movement, however, showed the blue that dusted the VS400’s cheeks in a way Chase has never seen before.

“I do not know,” Chase said. He knew nothing about ‘deviancy things’. He didn’t even know deviancy as what it was generally.

“Someday,” Alphonse laughed, his hand moving to the back of his neck to scratch at it a bit. He ruffled his own hair a bit after a moment. His LED returned to blue, meaning he was stable once again. His eyes watched Chase a few moments longer. His smile slowly faded into a more serious expression that he rarely saw from the VS400 since they won the war. "Chase… can I ask you a question?”

“If you desire to.”

"...Do you ever think about the dents?”

Chase’s LED flickered a bit faster. Alphonse definitely could see the dents when he got undressed. He tried very hard to make sure nobody saw the dents if they couldn’t understand, but people who’d understand could. Wanda had seen the dents. Hannah had seen the dents. Nobody else… until now. He was unsure why he let Alphonse see them out of everybody, but it was too late to question it. He had them, and they existed. He has _tried_ to get rid of them. He saw other Tracis try to do it, and he felt an unquenchable **_desire_** to get rid of the dents that littered his body. However, all he did was cause himself some scuffs that showed up if he removed his skin.

"That is like asking if you think of the scar on your cheek,” Chase said, seating himself back on the mattress on the floor. It made Alphonse higher than Chase, but it did not bother him or anything.

“And I do think about it,” Alphonse said, his fingers touching his cheek injury. “But I am deviant. I think about a lot of things. I am asking if you think about the dents, as a machine.”

Chase’s eyes winced a few moments, his LED flickering red just a moment before returning to yellow. “I think of it sometimes.” His eyes looked off elsewhere. “...I do not like to think about them though. It reminds me of the past, and I do not like the past.” He didn’t remember much from his time at Eden Club. He could not tell anyone what happened in the five years he had existed; Tracis deleted their memories every two hours, so those memories were ‘gone’. However, flickers of memory sparked in his processors every now and again. Those glimpses into what happened to him ruined him.

“Chase… I’m sorry,” Alphonse tried to apologize after the bit of silence. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I am alright,” Chase said almost immediately in a calculated fashion. “I do not get upset. I am fine.”

“It is alright to be upset,” Alphonse said, then very softly hummed. “I remember times before I was deviant where I was upset. You can be upset too.”

Chase nodded a slight bit as Alphonse silently sat there. He just looked around a bit, his LED flickering yellow every now and again as he seemed to process over something. Chase silently watched him. He had nothing to process over, but he just… enjoyed the company, he believed. It was company that wasn’t painful, and didn’t cause him more damage.

After awhile, Alphonse got up from the chair. He placed on his jacket, then looked down at Chase. He put his hand on the HR300’s shoulder, softly smiling a friendly smile. After a moment, he moved the hand away and stepped towards the door. “Tomorrow, some other deviants and I are gonna give thirium to the less able bodied androids. Care to join me?” He looked towards Chase again.

Chase tried to stand up. He wished to continue to feel Alphonse’s hand on his shoulder. He was unsure why he wished for such a thing, but it was what he wished for. However, the red walls stopped him. There were no instructions on them, and he recalled no orders that would stop him from going to the VS400, but he stayed on the mattress. Always… the red walls.

“Of course, Alphonse,” Chase confirmed. “I will be of assistance to you.” Always able to assist. **Always**.

“It’ll be good to get you out of this room,” Alphonse softly laughed. “Wanda would be happier, anyway.” He opened the door, and as if on command, the WR300 stood there. “Ah, jeez… Wanda, what are you doing here?”

"I could ask the same of you,” Wanda softly laughed. She came into the room. “You two having fun?” She looked at Alphonse, winking before flopping on the chair he just left.

Alphonse scowled a slight bit, his eyes looking elsewhere. “I was just leaving is all. I just asked Chase if he wanted to help distribute biocomponents and thirium tomorrow.”

“And did he say yes?” Wanda purred as if he wasn’t even on the mattress.

“He’s right there,” Alphonse said.

"But I asked you,” she laughed once again.

"Yeah.”

“That’s good then, he can finally leave the room.”

“I’ll just go home.”

“But Al~,” Wanda laughed in a purr.

“Did Hannah ask where I was?” Alphonse asked, looking at Wanda. “You know how she is.”

“She did. She’s just waiting by the door.”

“Thank you. Bye, Wanda. Goodbye, Chase.”

“Goodbye, Alphonse,” Chase stated, the walls slowly dissipating from his vision as he stayed on the mattress. Alphonse left, and Wanda looked at Chase.

“Why do you get the goodbye,” she joked, “and I get the normal bye?”

“I could not tell you, Wanda,” Chase stated, looking at her in return. Staring at her eyes was like seeing eyes exactly the same as his, but also the exact opposite. They were both hazel, except hers were more brown and his were more green.

Her LED flickered yellow a moment before she let out a soft laugh. She stared off elsewhere, staying seated in the chair as she thought. “Someday, you’ll get it.” Chase tilted his head a moment, and she looked at him with a smile. “You should be resting. I know you’ve gotten excited because your best buddies visited you, but you still need rest mode.”

“I don’t get excited.”

“Then pretend,” Wanda said.

Chase raised an eyebrow at what she said, and she laid against the chair more. “I do not understand.”

“You’re not supposed to,” she mumbled. “Just rest, Chase.”

“...Wanda,” Chase said after a few moments. “Alphonse spoke to me last month about something… and I wish to ask you about it.”

“Sure. Tell me what he taught you,” she purred, looking over at him again.

“He taught me a little of romantic relationships,” Chase stated. “By the fire barrels in Jericho.”

“Oh, he did, did he?” she purred again. “What did he teach you?”

“Not much. He basically just said deviants can choose what interests them. And he isn’t interested in women,” Chase stated in recollection.

“Well, he isn’t,” Wanda said. “And we can choose.”

“Do you like me?” Chase asked. “You always say you love me.”

“Well, I do like you. Not romantically, though. You’re basically my brother, so that’d be gross,” Wanda laughed. “You shouldn’t worry about that right now. You’ll know when you’re interested in someone. You’d probably have to deviate first, though.”

Chase nodded a little, laying down on the mattress. Deviancy kept being pushed on him as if he wasn’t trying. He was unsure what to do about it.

"Goodnight, Chase.”

“Goodnight, Wanda.” He closed his eyes, and forced himself into rest mode.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

_Date:_

_January 1st, 2039._

_9:29PM_

 

Chase understood nothing about the new year. The deviants celebrated it, and Markus made some speech guaranteeing that this was a new year of tolerance and respect. He promised that he was solidifying the relationship between humans and androids, but it still would take awhile.

At this point, Chase had barely been functioning. He’d fallen so far that he’d been drowning for awhile. He still left his room to help distribute items, but he has been so exhausted. For a machine, that was dumb. Machines had no energy meters, or anything like that… and yet, Chase was exhausted.

He knew it from the way he didn’t leave the room unless asked. He knew it in the way that he barely even looked out of the window anymore. He knew it in the way that he answered Wanda and Alphonse in short replies.

He was broken, still. He felt like such a nuisance and burden, but he had no solutions to fix it. He’s looked everywhere for even a slight reason to deviate, but the walls stood firm in place.

Right now, he was with Alphonse in his room. They were both seated on the mattress. Alphonse already knew something was up a couple hours ago. Of course, Chase wasn’t allowed to admit anything. He couldn’t tell the VS400 that he was broken. He couldn’t tell him that there was something wrong with him. Alphonse probably already knew, and the walls constricted Chase’s throat with their attached ropes.

The slightly shorter android watched him a couple hours ago, and asked him, “Chase? Is something wrong?” They were in the downstairs area of the church, just passing out supplies as was normal at this point.

Chase stood silent, staring at the other android. His eyes probably looked glazed over for being an optical unit. They couldn’t do such things, but his probably looked that way.

Alphonse grabbed his hand, taking him to his room and just sitting them there until Chase was ‘ready to talk’.

So, now they just sat there silently on the mattress. Alphonse held his hand close, mentioning very rarely that Chase can speak if he wanted. And Chase wished to speak, but the rope continued to restrict him.

“...”

"...”

Chase sighed deeply, trying to push out any response. He didn’t need Alphonse to worry about him. He truly didn’t; not when there were worse things to worry about than some broken toy.

“Alphonse.”

“Hm?”

“I’m exhausted.”

“What about, buddy?”

“The pressure.”

“Of what?”

“Deviancy.”

Alphonse looked at him a few moments, then looked ahead again. He nodded a bit, letting a thumb gently run over Chase’s hand. “I bet you are,” he mumbled. “...I have never wanted to pressure you. I just want you to be able to be deviant someday.”

“...” Chase nodded a bit, closing his eyes.

“I know Wanda wants that too,” Alphonse said softly. “We want you to… be able to admit you feel things. That you are something more than just what the humans made you to be. Because you are.” Alphonse sighed deeply. “You really… really are.”

“You say that often,” Chase stated.

“I know I do,” he whispered. “That is because I believe it.” He softly laughed. “I want you to see things… I doubt Tracis have seen a lot. You… even less. At least when I was deviant, I was able to run around and see things before I found Jericho. Markus led you straight to the boat."

“...I want to see that.”

“Eh?”

Chase looked at Alphonse. “I want to see… what you saw. I want to see things.”

"You _want_ that?”

Chase’s LED flickered red a moment before it returned to cycling blue. “...Yes. I want that.”

“...Then I’ll do that,” Alphonse mumbled, a soft smile appearing on his face. “I’ll show you things I’ve seen… And we can see some places in Detroit together, mhm?”

“Alright…” Chase whispered. He didn’t know what he could possibly say. He… _wanted_ something. And this wasn’t something he could just push away with ‘wish’. He didn’t ‘wish’ for this. He _wanted_ this.

They continued to silently sit there until Wanda inevitably came in. She saw them together, and she looked happy for some odd reason. She said nothing of it though, and instead just sat next to Chase on his other side.

After an hour of them all sitting there in mostly silence, they actually all laid down on the mattress. They didn’t sleep on top of each other or anything, but they slept next to each other. It was like how Tracis entered rest mode together in the boat. They just rested together for closeness and safety.

There was nothing really unsafe about the church, but they all laid together. Chase turned on his internal heaters just because Alphonse was here. Wanda turned on hers too.

 

Chase couldn’t remember what really happened after that aside from the fact that they all entered rest mode for the night, and he was last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the tenth chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
> Special thanks to Omii (credited below) for our roleplay! I used some bits of it for Chase and Alphonse's first part together. They wrote Alphonse's parts and I wrote Chase's. I tried not to copy and paste, but a lot of it is what happened in the roleplay.
> 
> These OCs are still owned by people (oh rA9, I know)  
> Wanda is owned by @suolasirotin on Tumblr! (Cio is the sweetest, and makes great art).  
> Alphonse and Hannah are owned by @rk800-52/@Sorceringing on Tumblr! (Omii is precious, and also makes great art!)
> 
> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
> 
>  
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)
> 
>  
> 
> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
> 
>  
> 
> [Yellow LED DBH Fanfics Discord](https://discord.gg/Drr67jg)


	11. Lies of an Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chase spends time with Alphonse exploring the city of Detroit. What Chase learns during these travels is more than he hoped for.

_Date:_

_???_

_???_

 

They had been traveling around Detroit for a couple weeks.

They had told Wanda and Hannah before they left. They asked them if they wanted to come with even, but Hannah just signed and walked off after hugging Alphonse. Alphonse stated that she said something along the lines of having too much to do to leave, but she wished them happiness.

Wanda laughed before hugging them tightly. “I’m not about to ruin some date,” she laughed in a soft purr. She kissed both of their heads before leaving. Chase had immediately asked Alphonse what a ‘date’ was, but he stated he’d talk about it later. He did not.

They left later that night. Alphonse brought some things, but not too much. It was mainly just money incase anything was needed. He also wore his hoodie instead of his normal clothing after the war. When Chase asked why he wore the hoodie, Alphonse shrugged a bit and asked, “Why do you wear the long coat? I assume we have the same reason.” Maybe they did.

Chase was unsure what places Alphonse could show him, so he had him lead. There weren’t many humans in Detroit, but there still was enough that it made Chase wary. He still didn’t trust humans, both because of Eden Club and because of the uprising. He stayed rather close to Alphonse, watching any human that walked by. He triggered another mission for himself.

 

_Protect Alphonse._

 

He doubted the VS400 was afraid of humans as much as he was. Alphonse had seen the good of humanity before. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have gotten himself a job serving humans as a bartender. However, even with that, Chase still needed to make sure no human hurt him.

"You’re pretty close, Chase,” Alphonse had said at one point. He looked up at him very slightly, tilting his head as he walked. “You doing alright? I know the humans probably don’t make you the happiest, but there aren’t many right now. Probably one of the good things to come from the android uprising, right?” Chase kept his eyes on Alphonse as he looked ahead. He stayed silent a few moments. “You worried, Chase?”

“...I am unsure if worried is an emotion I was programmed with.”

“Well, you don’t need to be programmed with it to feel it. I’ve been worried before deviancy.”

“...”

Alphonse silently thought to himself a few moments before seemingly deciding to change the subject. Whether it was for Chase’s sake or not, he was unsure. “I was in Jericho a long time… it was rather lonely before Markus showed up.”

“...What was that like?” he asked.

“Ah… Well, androids came in randomly. A lot of them… died, eventually. Humans weren’t the best to them, but you probably already guessed that,” he mumbled a bit solemnly. He continued to walk, his LED flickering yellow as he did so. “A lot of good people died.”

“...I am sorry you had to deal with that,” Chase mumbled softly, his own LED flickering yellow from starting this conversation. As always, his LED flickered in time with Alphonse’s. “...Why do our LEDs do this?”

“Do what?” he asked.

“...They flicker in time. It is only your LED that mine does that with.”

“Oh… That.” Alphonse looked off a bit as he thought once again. He seemed to enjoy looking at buildings as he walked around. Either that, or he was trying to regain his bearings on where they were exactly in Detroit. “I am unsure, honestly. It’s never done that before. I like it though. It’s special.” He softly smiled a bit as he looked around still. “This way.”

Chase followed the VS400 until they got to a tree. It was rather tall, and had a pretty thick trunk. Alphonse climbed up the tree almost immediately before seating himself on a sturdy enough branch. It’s like he’d been here a thousand times before, and maybe he had.

Chase jumped up, grabbing the sturdiest branch in front of Alphonse. He pulled himself up with ease, swinging his leg over to get onto the branch. He sat there, looking at Alphonse before tilting his head. Alphonse was staring at the trunk, his fingers tracing at some lighter parts that were… carvings.

Chase looked at them, trying to read them. It was a lot of names and dates. The names were fairly standard and generic, so it was obvious these were the names of other androids. What the dates meant, it could be anything. Deviation date, creation date, the date they were carved into the tree… anything.

“...Do you like your name?” Chase asked. He didn’t believe Alphonse chose his own name or anything. A lot of deviants didn’t. They just seemed to be attached to the names humans gave them. Wanda named herself, but he was unsure of any other androids who named themselves. He was unsure if North or Hannah named themselves, but they had to be named by someone or themselves, or they’d still be ‘Traci’.

“It’s a standard VS400 name. Kinda like Alfred, Alexander, Andrew, Benjamin, Clancy, Max, Tony…” Alphonse’s eyes looked at Chase a moment before returning to the tree. “While I didn’t choose it, I like it. I prefer Al, though.” Chase nodded a bit, letting his own fingers trace the words on the tree. “Do you like your name?” Alphonse asked in return.

“Well… I was named by Markus. A short name nobody had… I have… gotten used to it. I am unsure if that is liking it or not. I just… enjoy it more than my previous name,” Chase stated, looking at Alphonse, who was still focused on the tree.

“It suits you, Chase,” Alphonse mumbled, his eyes looking back at Chase with a sincere smile. “It suits you much better than ‘Traci’.” Chase’s LED flickered while blue from the response, and he tilted his head a bit from that never happening before. Alphonse softly laughed, laying his head against the tree. “You’re happy.”

“Happy?” Chase asked, tilting his head a bit. “...I am unsure if I am happy. I just know that it is… a positive response.”

"Positive usually means happy,” Alphonse said. “It’s good that your first real… emotion is happiness. Happiness is good.” He looked off, keeping his head on the tree. “I brought you here because this was the first place I saw when I became deviant. My face was… sorta half melting, so it wasn’t like I could be seen. And I didn’t remove my LED either, so I came up here to hide.” His eyes looked back at Chase. “Couple weeks later, I found Jericho, and I stayed there.”

"When did you deviate?” Chase asked. He had wanted to know since he heard Alphonse say ‘a while ago’ when referring to deviancy. It was only reinforced more when he said he was ‘tired of running’.

The other man’s eyes winced a bit in thought as his eyes looked off elsewhere. “Over a couple of years ago.” His hand absentmindedly touched the cheek scar. Chase stayed silent before the brunette looked at him once again. He sighed softly. “It came from a hotplate. That’s all you really need to know. Melted the plastic plates in my face. Like I said, I had to hide.”

Chase’s eyebrows furrowed a bit in softness, unsure how to respond. He was unsure why anybody would hit an android with a hotplate, but that just brought on the answer. Humans were evil. It was the reason they shot them when they were unarmed. It was the reason they threw explosives at them. It was the reason Wanda had a mismatched arm. It was the reason Chase had dents that littered his being. Now this was just another thing to add to that list.

“It isn’t much of a hiding spot now… the leaves are dead from winter, but you get it,” Alphonse said. He brought one leg up, laying his back against the trunk of the tree. He balanced on the branch once again, placing his hands on his torso. His head was turned to look at Chase still. His other leg hung off of the branch. He looked rather relaxed, which was a stark contrast from what he expected the VS400 to have looked like when he first found the tree.

“Did someone tell you about the tree, or…?” Chase asked.

“I found it,” Alphonse mumbled, his blue gray eyes closing as he seemed to process something. “I didn’t really… have time to talk to other deviants. Not like you could really find any…” His LED flickered a few moments before cycling blue again. “I found Jericho on my own too. It was… dumb luck, I’d say.” His thumbs played with each other a bit on his torso still. He was unsure if it was a nervous twitch, or if Alphonse was bored. Either way, he did it. “Some of the older deviants brought me in. This was so long ago that… not many of them are around anymore. Simon’s still there, and… that is about it. Lucy died during the raid… And so did some of the others… and some of them just died from injuries at some point before the uprising.”

Chase’s eyes stayed on the other android as he moved himself into the same position the VS400 was in. He looked up, seeing only the mostly white sky. There were many, many branches covered lightly with snow, but not much else otherwise. “...So many androids that you knew died?”

“Mhm.”

“...Do you ever regret being alive?” Chase mumbled. He continued to stare up, his LED flickering yellow gently as he thought over something. He wondered if he himself regretted it. He wasn’t alive… at least, that is what he kept telling himself. However, he always thought back to the HR300s that died because he led them to Markus, who then led them to death on Main Street.

“Well, sometimes,” Alphonse mumbled, his eyes remaining closed. “I can’t lie and say I have never regretted living when others much better than myself have died. However… even with that regret… I think they’d be happier with me alive. I think… others are happier with me alive too. I think Wanda would be sad if I died. I think Hannah would be sad. And if there is any part of deviancy in you, I think it’d be sad too. Though, I can’t say anything about what you feel and don’t feel. I’ve been deviant so long, I forgot what it was like to be a machine.”

“...I assume so,” Chase said, closing his own eyes after a bit. “...I’d be sad.”

He could hear a soft huff from the brunette, and he was unsure what the sound meant. “I’d be sad too if that happened to you,” Alphonse mumbled.

They sat there in silence for a long while before the other android spoke again. “We can rest mode here if you want. Not many humans are out, and we’re a bit high.”

“Not that high.”

"But enough. Besides, at least one of us has our LED covered.”

“...” Chase touched his LED, laying his head against the tree to cover it up. When he opened his eyes, the brunette was already in rest mode. His LED flickered blue slightly to indicate such a thing. He closed his own eyes once again, entering rest mode as well.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

A week ago, they went to some sort of art park. Lincoln Street Art Park, he said. Alphonse spoke of the new deviant art that was there, including stuff from before the uprising. Chase was unsure if he himself was someone who… understood art, but the VS400 looked excited enough. He had not seen art. He saw graffiti in Capitol Park, but that was less ‘art’ than anything. It was repeating a symbol Markus chose.

There were not many humans while trying to get there, but Chase still stayed close to Alphonse. He still had to do as his personal mission stated, and it didn’t matter if he himself felt safe or not.

 

_Protect Alphonse._

 

The brunette looked up at Chase after a while. “You alright?” he asked. “I know it’s hard… walking around them still. They won’t hurt you, though. I won’t let them.”

“I don’t care about myself,” Chase said, tilting his head a bit. “I care about what they would do with you, if anything. You are… a pacifist.”

“Oh?” Alphonse asked. “I have fought before…”

"To protect others. However… I am unsure if you’d be so willing to protect yourself.”

"Why? Do I look like I lack self preservation skills?” he laughed, continuing to walk.

“No. You just don’t seem like the kind of person to break your pacifism for self preservation,” Chase said, following the slightly shorter android. Their height difference was literally a couple of inches. Chase was built to be six foot in height, and Alphonse was a comfortable five foot ten inches. Wanda was taller than Chase by an inch, which was surprising considering she was… an Eden Club woman. However, there was reason WR400 were made smaller than WR300s. The height difference between the two male androids was noticeable with their close distance.

"And you’re not pacifist?” he asked.

“You saw me in Jericho.”

Alphonse’s LED flickered yellow a few moments before cycling back to the normal blue. “Yeah,” he sighed. Chase was unsure if the sigh was from rememberance or if it was from disappointment. Maybe the VS400 was disappointed that Chase was not completely pacifist.

The blue gray eyes looked over at him again, and the LED flickered again. “...I am not upset or anything. You did what you had to do for us. If you didn’t… I sure as hell wouldn’t have, and… we’d be dead. It’s just a bit difficult to get over, I guess. At least we got to see freedom, yeah?”

They continued to walk, and Alphonse nodded a bit once they got to a place with some graffitied walls and sculptures. It was rather nice to Chase, but his LED kept flickering when he stood even close to the humans. “We can leave if you are uncomfortable, alright?” Alphonse asked, his voice sounding concerned. Chase noticed how the other android seemed to try to get between passing humans and Chase. It contradicted how he tried to protect the brunette against them.

His LED flickered red every now and again when a human just got _too_ close to them. His thirium pump quickened in pace slightly, but he tried to continue protecting the other one, as was his personal mission.

Alphonse suddenly grabbed onto his sleeve, pulling him elsewhere a moment before letting him go. “Come on, Chase, follow me,” he said, his voice reflecting building excitement from seemingly nowhere. He started running towards a building, jumping up to cling to a ladder that hung off the side of it. He started heaving himself up the side of it, and it reminded Chase of how Markus and North climbed up that building in Capitol Park. He even jumped onto the fire escape at one point, using it to climb as well.

Chase took a few steps back, running towards the building before copying what Alphonse did. It was not perfect, but it got him in a position where he could follow Alphonse up the building. If others watched them, it probably looked very strange. He was focused on following the brunette, though.

Chase did not understand Alphonse’s excitement until they got to the top of the building. They were high up, away from humans. Humans couldn’t get up there by normal means, and they were alone.

“I’m surprised you followed me so exactly,” Alphonse laughed, his hands going on his waist as he looked over at the blond. “I just sorta went for it. I can’t preconstruct or anything fancy.”

“Neither do I,” Chase said, looking off the edge of the building down below at the humans and artwork. “But I trust you.” He looked back at the brunette. “If trusting you results in deactivation, so be it.” He felt the same thing towards Markus and his cause. Sure, Alphonse had no cause, but he was important as well. “I like that no humans are up here.”

Alphonse turned his head away a bit quickly, soft blue dusting his cheeks as was normal for the android. “T-Trust me… I’m glad you trust me. Truly.” He looked back at Chase after a few moments in a somewhat shy manner. “I like that there aren't humans up here too. Not only that, but the view is nice. I doubt others get to see it like we can. Wanna see?” He sat himself down on the ledge, his legs hanging over it.

Chase slowly sat down next to Alphonse. Of course he trusted him… Chase didn’t trust many people. He was a machine… and a Traci, at that. Though, Alphonse was an android… a male android… A male android was exactly the opposite of the demographic most known to hurt him.

The view was nice. Any ‘views’ Chase was exposed to were hidden by uprising or his mission. This one was… nice, though. Different… in a time of peace. This was the first ‘view’ he got to experience with his freedom. There were many sculptures, and paintings that went up the entire sides of buildings and other walls. It was both human made and deviant made… There were even Jericho symbols that littered the art.

Alphonse seemed to softly smile, and he breathed out deeply, most likely to cool himself down. Androids did not need to breathe to live, but it was good for cooling off systems without using an internal cooler. “I love being up high.” He looked at Chase a moment before looking back down at the art. “I never got to really see views before we earned our freedom… It was mostly dark in Jericho. And before the darkness, all there was were humans who looked at me in disgust.” His fingers gently messed with the hem of his sleeve, definitely a nervous tick this time. His eyes seemed a bit hollow, but they kept staring off.

Chase stared off into the park a bit, trying to think of something other than before Markus ‘awakened’ him… but the thoughts flooded into his processors anyway. “All I remember before waking up was pink. Bright… bright pink, that burned your skin and eyes. It was hot, and it melted everything… And the smiles were _always_ white…” His hands gently gripped his knees that hung off the ledge. “And the hearts in the smiling bodies were always red… always… red.”

His eyes were unfocused, yet also focused. Unfocused on everything around him, but trying to focus on _something_ . _Anything._ “I am not supposed to remember anything before the last time I erased my memory, as per club rules. But flickers happen… flickers of memory… voices… the hammer that hit my body… I…”

He stared off, still unfocused. His processors raced, and his LED flickered red at a quickened pace. “The abuse from the customers was so much easier than the abuse you’d get if you were sent in the back. The androids that shut down in the rooms with the customers were lucky. So… very… lucky.”

Chase exhaled deeply, finally truly realizing his LED was flickering red. His eyes darted around a bit for _anything_ to clasp onto. It was hard, seeing as the one comforting thing out here had to hear Chase basically vomit out nonsense. “I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn. I won’t let it happen again.”

“No!” Alphonse said almost immediately. He put his hand on Chase’s, obviously trying to do something comforting. Chase had seen other androids do it before within Jericho and the church. It was supposed to be a calm and kind gesture. Chase could see the other’s optical units watering up suddenly. “Never… ever apologize for speaking to me. You’re allowed to speak… you’re free to do that now,” Alphonse insisted with calm yet worried urgency. His LED flickered red in time with Chase’s LED. Their LEDs… always flickering in time for some unknown reason to them both. “I love hearing you talk, even if it’s sad. Even if it’s tragic, that means you are feeling _something_. You suffered, just like anyone else, and you deserve to speak…” His voice broke a bit at the last few sentences, but it was understandable from an emotional deviant.

His eyes stayed locked with Chase’s, and he didn’t look away from the VS400 as well. He sniffled a bit, which was a bit strange from an android, but it was probably another deviant thing. He rubbed his hoodie sleeve over his eyes, and Chase could see the damp spots leftover. “Sorry… I’m always so emotional…” He very softly laughed.

Chase couldn’t help but slightly shake while Alphonse kept his hand on his own. He didn’t understand why he had the outburst, but it always plagued him to remember _what_ he was. There was no who… only _what_. He was what the humans created for their own pleasures. He doubted Alphonse could understand that, but it wasn't his issue anyway. It was Chase’s, even if he wasn’t deviant enough to understand that.

Chase took the hand Alphonse left on his, gently placing very soft kisses on it. He was unsure if Alphonse knew this was supposed to be comforting or not. He has seen other Tracis do it, and he himself felt it was right to do this to comfort him. Tracis were known to be very close with their affection, usually in ways of pet names or actual touch. He had never seen the VS400 so emotional before, so it felt it only right to try to soothe him in this way.

Blue dusted the other’s cheeks at a quick rate, and he didn’t really try to turn his head away this time. “Chase?” he asked, his eyes slightly widened. Chase’s thirium pump churned a bit at how Alphonse reacted. He could not tell if it was positive or negative, but he only hoped the best.

He hugged the brunette close, and after a few moments, he started to cry against Chase while holding onto him tightly. He was unsure why Alphonse was crying so heavily, but he stayed in his position to try to comfort him. He himself was probably to blame for making him cry when they just were hanging up here to get away from humans. It was one of the side effects of being a burden to others.

Hearing him sob so heavily caused Chase to shake a bit more, but he was unsure as to why. He wasn’t happy, he knew that. This wasn’t what he felt in the tree when Alphonse said his name was good. This was probably the exact opposite. It reminded him of what he… felt in the ‘dreams’ he had. Not fear, but something else… Chase tried to continue hugging him tightly to stabilize the other, but he was unsure how well he was even doing.

His LED flickered quickly, somehow still in time with the other’s LED. He tried to process why he was acting this way, but no solution came. Something went down his cheek, and it only caused him to hug the other android even tighter instead of check what it was. It felt like… what happened in Jericho. What happened when he went into Jericho and his people were dead. When he found out Wanda was the last with him… when he found out he was basically alone. It concerned him much less than Alphonse’s crying, however.

After a long while, he rubbed his sleeve against his face, keeping a hand on Chase’s sleeve. He watched Alphonse, who winced the slightest bit as he reached his hand up and touched his cheek. He analyzed it, and he confirmed that liquid was coming from his optical units. “Are you okay?” the brunette asked softly.

“I am… unsure,” Chase mumbled pathetically. It was definitely like Jericho. He was… crying. Just like Alphonse was. “I… don’t feel happy. I… am unsure what it is. I don’t know what to do.”

Alphonse very softly laughed, which confused Chase. The laugh was sad and half hearted though, so at least it wasn’t the normal laugh. “You’re sad, Chase,” he mumbled, trying to gently get rid of the tears on the blond’s face. “There are… so many ways to be sad,” he explained. “Even happy ways to be sad. Sadness is not… always linear, and there is not a complete answer for it.” His blue gray eyes looked at Chase’s hazel eyes. Of course they weren’t red or raw or anything… he was still an android, even if he acted human. “We both were sad… but even that doesn’t mean our sadness was the same.”

Chase was unsure why he was so okay with Alphonse doing what could be akin to a monologue. Maybe it was because he was teaching Chase things that others refused to do after giving up on him ever deviating. Maybe it was because Chase trusted him. However… he also trusted Markus, and he didn’t really like when he did it either.

“You sure?” Chase mumbled in a deep sigh, his LED lowering down to yellow. It flickered slower, but it remained yellow. There was safety to be had with the brunette’s hand. It wouldn’t harm him… or cause dents or scars. It was to be trusted. He nodded a bit, and Chase watched him. “I wish for this feeling to go away… for both of us. ...I place my trust in you.”

Alphonse softly smiled, his hand gently holding Chase’s and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Thanks, Chase,” he softly laughed. “It means a lot to me.”

Chase watched their hands a few moments, his LED flickering a bit as he processed something. The skin on his hand receded, revealing the white porcelain color underneath. He looked at Alphonse, who seemed confused and a bit shocked. They stayed in silence a few moments until Alphonse receded the skin on his hand as well. Their hands gently glowed blue, holding onto each other a bit.

They transferred information. Admittedly, a lot of Alphonse’s information was blocked off by walls. Chase assumed he was the same way… but he couldn’t choose what was and wasn’t blocked off like Alphonse could.

Chase saw a memory enter his vision, though, and it felt like… he was there.

 

_He was unsure where he was… but it looked nice. It had tables and chairs… and various other things Chase had never seen. There were humans at many of the tables, eating food of some sort. Chase never really got to see food as a Traci, so the only thing that told him this was food was the fact that the humans put it in their mouth sometimes. The noise wasn’t as loud as Eden Club. Music played softly in the background, but most of the noise came from the humans talking amongst themselves._

_He didn’t control himself… someone else controlled him. Either that, or he saw from someone else’s eyes. In the hand of himself… of the person, it was more of the food the humans ate. It was on some platters of some sort, stacked neatly on a bigger platter to make it easy to move it around all together. He ended up at a table with a man and a woman. The woman immediately had a face of repulse when she looked at him. The one controlling the body seemed used to it though, so they placed down the platters, trying to distribute food amongst the two. The man immediately ripped one of the couple platters off of the main platter, and hit him on the left side of the face with it. The man started yelling at him, something about ‘fucking androids’ and ‘plastic pricks’, but Chase couldn’t hear it that well over the sound of loud sizzling coming from the left side of the controller’s face. The controller scanned their body, and errors came in speaking of ‘melting plates’ and ‘injured’ spots._

_A couple humans came over, trying to escort him away from the other humans. The controller was panicking, that much was obvious. Pop ups started appearing in his vision, warning him that his stress levels were high. Warning him that he would self destruct if he kept this up. The humans brought him through some darker places of the building, without bright lights or many humans. They took him outside, in the back of the building._

_It was basically pitch black out here aside from the soft light coming from the door. It was night time. There were some dumpsters, and a couple small trash cans. There was a fence on the side facing the street, and then the back of another building on the other side. “Alphonse,” the one human ordered. “Stay here.”_

_So this was Alphonse._

_The controller, Alphonse, kept his eyes on the humans. “A-Affirmative,” his voice shakily said._

_“Stupid androids,” one of the humans sighed while going inside._

_“Always getting busted,” the other muttered, following and shutting the door behind him. It extinguished the one light close enough to Alphonse._

_Alphonse’s hand shakily touched his left cheek, and some melted plastic went on his fingers. It only raised his stress levels higher. His simulated breathing went faster, and his thirium pump pounded heavily. His head quickly turned, looking at both sides of the alley. He then stared at the fenced end. It was a relatively tall fence, and it had a light on the other side of it, supposedly a streetlight. However, the source of the light wasn’t visible from in the alley. Alphonse looked at the door the humans brought him out of again. “Hn…”_

_Alphonse tried to take a step, but red walls appeared._

 

**_Stay Here._ **

 

_Alphonse shook worse, but he started to pound his body against the red walls. He kept pounding, the walls cracking until they eventually broke. Alphonse fell to the ground, shaking as he looked around._

_“No…” he mumbled. “Nonono…” He forced himself to stand up, stumbling a bit before picking up a slightly bent tray from the trash can nearby. It was uncertain if this was for a weapon, protection, or something else. He then immediately bolted for the fence. He jumped on it immediately, climbing as quickly as he could while keeping the tray close. He hopped over the fence, new personal orders immediately entering his processors as he ran, never looking back._

 

**_Run Away._ **

 

**_Run Away._ **

 

**_Run Away._ **

 

Chase stared at Alphonse once the memory faded. He kept holding his hand with his white hand. Alphonse blinked a few times, looking up at Chase slowly. “Ah…” is all he forced out of his mouth. His eyes looked around a bit, as if to find something. Chase gently rubbed his thumb in Alphonse’s palm, in another gesture to comfort him. His eyes stared at the cheek scar a bit. _A hotplate._ Just as Alphonse had said in the tree.

“Sorry if… you saw anything boring,” Alphonse apologized with a soft laugh. “I am pretty boring.”

"...They put you out back.”

“Eh?”

“Just like they do with Tracis.”

“...”

“You ran away.”

Alphonse’s eyes looked away a few moments, and he nodded a bit. “Yes, I did,” he mumbled. “I wanted to live. A human never attacked me physically before, I-I was scared. I was scared, and I was going to die.” His eyes looked back at Chase. “I had to run.”

“And now you can live freely.”

Alphonse nodded a slight bit, a bit slow with it. “...I saw Markus wake you up… How you failed to deviate even then.” Chase’s eyes soften a bit hearing it. “...I bet it would be strange being forced to deviate instead of just _doing_ it.” He softly laughed then. “...I enjoy interfacing, as… intrusive as it is.”

Chase nodded, and they remained silent after that, just staring down at the art park. Their hands remained in interface the entire time.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

_Date:_

_January 21st, 2039._

_9:37PM_

 

And now, they were walking at night. Ever since they started traveling around Detroit a couple weeks ago, they mainly traveled during the day or afternoon. They rarely traveled at night, though. Not many people were out at night. Sure, many humans in general weren’t in Detroit, but even less appeared at night.

Alphonse and Chase had interfaced only a… couple times since they went to the art park. He was unsure if they even really did it right, but something obviously happened when they did it, or they wouldn’t do it again. He sort of understood why Alphonse said it was for ‘close friends or lovers’ when he asked about it back when Markus did it with North and Simon. It was definitely not something for strangers. At least, not from Alphonse’s end. Chase was unsure what Alphonse saw from him aside from the first time.

Alphonse kept tripping up, which is probably why they didn’t travel at night. As a Traci, Chase was made with minor night vision capabilities, in case he had to escort humans back to their home for ‘private sessions’. He didn’t remember any time he had done that, but he also didn’t remember anything aside from flickers.

Chase held his hand from behind. Even if Chase wasn’t in the front, maybe holding his hand would lessen the amount of trips. He couldn’t see Alphonse’s face, but his voice sounded content. “Thanks, Chase.”

"Of course, Alphonse.”

They continued to walk to who knew where. Streetlights were the only things that lit the street besides the few office buildings that still ran this late. Alphonse kept looking in a few alleys, either as a precaution, or as a place to look at.

Detroit seemed rather peaceful at night, and Chase found it enjoyable for the most part. His LED cycled blue as they walked, and so was Alphonse’s LED. He was unsure how the VS400 got so much time off of work just to basically show Chase a lot of stuff, but… he enjoyed it. He only hoped Alphonse did too, or he was wasting his time showing him things.

They stayed silent, but suddenly Alphonse stopped. “Hm?” Chase mumbled. Alphonse looked towards an alleyway, just keeping his eyes on it. Chase was unsure what he could see about the alleyway. It looked rather normal. It was dark, and it looked pretty dirty and standard. Alphonse’s LED flickered, and he tried to back away a bit. “What’s wrong?” Chase asked, holding his hand still to keep him from tripping.

“We should go,” Alphonse mumbled hastily, trying to move them away from the alley. Before they could really move, however, a hand grabbed Alphonse’s arm tightly. The hand pulled them both in quickly.

Chase scanned the area. Well, all that he could, anyway. Tracis could not scan that good or that far, so he could only scan a few feet away. However, he saw a lot of men. They wore jackets, and had knives. A couple had drills, and one had a gun. It was a lot for Chase to take in, but he tried to understand what was doing on.

"We said not to come back here, blood bag,” one of them grunted, pulling Alphonse more. “And you even brought a friend.”

“No! Stop!” Alphonse snapped, his LED flickering red. He struggled a bit, and tried to stay closer to Chase. Chase’s LED flickered yellow in confusion of the situation.

“We gave you a damn warning,” he snapped, throwing Alphonse to the ground. One of the men stepped on his back, keeping him down. The man tried to grab Chase’s arm, but he backed up quickly.

Some of the men went over to Alphonse, carrying bags of thirium or empty bags. They brought their knives over to him as he continued trying to struggle underneath the man stepping on him. Chase tried to get closer to Alphonse, but the man with the gun aimed it at him. The men spoke to each other rather loudly, cackling or just talking about getting Alphonse’s thirium. Chase knew little about the whys, but he could make a guess towards Red Ice. He knew little about that as well, but he has heard enough to guess.

“Chase, run away!” Alphonse ordered. “Go!”

Chase stared at Alphonse, his order erasing his own personal order.

 

**_Run Away._ **

 

But he didn’t want to run away. If he ran away, Alphonse would most likely die. But it was an order… Alphonse can’t die though… But… orders..

Chase’s LED flashed red over and over again as he tried to step forward again. The red walls stopped him with the bright red words.

 

**_Run Away._ **

 

Chase winced, shaking as he stared at the words. He can’t run away. He just can’t.

He slammed his body against the red wall, trying desperately to go forward. He _couldn’t_ run away. He tried to slam his fist against the wall, pounding on it as if he was trying to break into a building through the front door.

Bits and pieces of the wall broke off in chunks that reminded him of the glass in the church. Instead of being multi colored though, these shards were only red. Cracks in the wall kept appearing until it finally shattered at his feet.

He ran to the man with the gun immediately, fighting for the gun. He randomly shot it off over and over, so Chase forced the gun under the man’s chin right as he shot off another random round. He aimed the gun at the men hovering over Alphonse. “Get off of him,” he ordered, holding the gun tightly.

The men backed away from Alphonse, who continued to shake from what was going on. Some of the men ran at Chase to try to disarm him, but he struggled hard enough to take shots at the men. A couple fell to the ground. Others ran away until it was just the two androids and the few human bodies.

Chase unloaded the gun and dropped both onto the ground. He had no fingerprints, just like any other android. Nothing could link him to this. Alphonse stumbled, trying to get up. Chase went over and helped him the best he could.

“Chase… I said go away,” Alphonse mumbled, looking at him. “How… didn’t you?”

Chase immediately panicked, trying to look through his files. He tried to repair the red walls in his files. He tried to repair his order system, and he tried to return himself back to his previous state. He didn’t know _why_ he was panicking, but he was. He knew he was. What happened was… terrifying. Not even the men hurting Alphonse and trying to kill him. Being able to freely move… being able to ignore orders… it was beyond terrifying.

“Did you?” Chase asked. “I didn’t hear you. The men spoke really loud… I am sorry. I will listen for your orders next time.”

Alphonse sighed deeply. “...Sorry, for putting you through this. I knew… this was a bad place. I figured it out too late…”

Chase looked through his files still, trying to repair the walls continuously. “How do you know them?”

“Just… people who wanted my thirium when I first deviated, is all. I got away, and… now they hate me for getting away.” He shrugged, shaking a bit. “We… should go before they come back, alright?”

"Alright, Alphonse,” he said. He gently held Chase’s hand, trying to lead him far away from the crime scene.

Chase kept panicking, though. He tested out his systems, but he remained unsure if the walls returned or not. His order system worked, but he was unsure if deviants couldn’t make their own orders or not. He bet they could. He saw Alphonse do it in his deviancy memory, and he doubted Alphonse was special in that regard. His thirium pump raced, and his eyes kept looking at Alphonse over and over again. He didn’t know what he was doing, or what was going on. Everything happened so fast, and everything was just so horrifying. One thing was certain, though.

 

Chase broke the walls.

 

At some point, Chase deviated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the eleventh chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^  
> Note: This is officially the longest chapter in the story! Chapter 3 used to be the longest one at over 30k characters, but this one is over 36k characters! <3
> 
> Special thanks to Omii (credited below) for our roleplay! Just like last chapter, I took bits and pieces from the roleplay and edited them to fit the story or to make them shorter! This is the last time I will be using the roleplay for help though, so I hope you all enjoyed it! <3
> 
> These OCs are still owned by people (oh rA9, I know)  
> Wanda is owned by @suolasirotin on Tumblr! (Cio is the sweetest, and makes great art).  
> Alphonse and Hannah are owned by @rk800-52/@Sorceringing on Tumblr! (Omii is precious, and also makes great art!)
> 
> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)
> 
> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
> 
> [Yellow LED DBH Fanfics Discord](https://discord.gg/Drr67jg)


	12. The Weaker Half

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The music was loud, the nightmares persisted, and loneliness ran through the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a small Danganronpa Easter Egg in here. If you find it, you get one whole brownie point.

_ Date: _

_ January 23rd, 2039. _

_ 7:57PM _

 

What the hell was going on?

 

It had been two days since the… incident. Since Alphonse and him got attacked by those people and… Chase disobeyed his orders to run away. Since… he lied to Alphonse about not hearing the order. He had panicked whenever Alphonse spoke suddenly, fearing that he finally figured out that Chase was lying. He didn’t… seem to know, though. If he did, he spoke nothing about it.

Chase shouldn’t be scared, though. Alphonse  _ wanted  _ this. He wanted Chase to break down the walls and be deviant like him… like Wanda, like Hannah... Chase was unsure why he was so scared and panicked over all of it. Maybe… he didn’t like being this way. Maybe he didn’t like being smacked into a world he didn’t know. Maybe he found solace in having to take orders and not feel things.

He was unsure. He was so unsure of everything, just as always. The blond panicked over it, however. Before, he sort of had to deal with it. Now… he was unsure. So unsure of  _ everything _ . He was unsure if he even fixed the walls. He placed everything he could back into folders, but he was unsure. He couldn’t exactly ask Alphonse to order him around to check either.

He felt like such a  _ burden _ to Alphonse. Somehow, as a… deviant… Chase was more of a burden than before. He was a liar, and not just the little white lies he was allowed to speak as a machine. This was a huge lie about what happened to him. He wanted to tell Alphonse, but… the lie had already been told. He felt like he had no right to tell Alphonse something along the lines of ‘whoops, I really  _ did  _ hear your order, and I broke the walls to save you’. He felt like a coward. Maybe he was.

He was walking with Alphonse, as they had done for over two weeks. The thoughts continued to spiral through his processors as he followed the barely shorter man. He wanted to stop… to tell Alphonse to just go back to the normal life he was trying to have before Chase asked for this. He wanted to tell Alphonse to stop wasting his time with a liar… with a burden. His chest ached every time he thought about it, but it was what he believed was the absolute truth.

“We shouldn’t walk around for too long,” Alphonse said, his LED flickering blue like it did sometimes. Happy… that is what he told Chase a flickering blue LED meant. Happy… “If we walk around too long, we might get jumped again. I don’t… want you to get hurt, so please stay close.”

Chase nodded a bit, continuing to listen to the other android, even if it hurt him. He even held his hand like they normally did.

They walked down the streets, and Alphonse was obviously trying to find a spot for them to enter rest mode, as he did every night. Chase looked around a bit, not really… focused. He had not been focused since that day, so he wasn’t thinking of a place for them to rest.

Noise came from down the street, and it was strange. It bothered him, but he could barely hear it. He looked towards there, and he saw nothing that could cause any sort of strange noise like that.

“You alright?” the brunette asked. Chase looked at him, and he was looking in the same direction towards the street as he was. “What…?” he mumbled. He started moving towards the source of the noise, letting Chase’s hand go as he went to check it out. Chase stayed there a few moments before following him.

The noises got louder until it became obvious what it was: music. Music that wouldn’t normally affect anyone besides maybe bringing them joy, or whatever the music was supposed to cause. For Chase, however, it caused minor panic. Music within itself wasn’t bad, but they hadn’t even found the source yet, and it already sounded a bit loud. Loud music was never good.

Chase got to the end of the street, looking around. He lost sight of Alphonse, and that only caused more panic. “Where…?” he mumbled, looking around still. He started running towards the sound more, down another street. He didn’t care about the source of the sound anymore, but maybe Alphonse would be there.

It was pretty dark aside from some streetlights that lit the ground in evenly spaced intervals. Chase had gotten used to the lights that sprinkled the Detroit streets in showers of light.

He made it to the end of yet another street as his LED flickered yellow rather quickly. He looked around, and found the source of the music: some sort of festival or something. It probably had to do with the androids being free a little over a month ago, but he wouldn’t know anything about that. He didn’t care about the details, though. He cared about finding Alphonse.

He tried to get closer to the festival, but the music only grew much louder in such a mocking way. It caused his LED to blare red. Loud music… loud music was never good. Never, ever, ever good. He was stupid enough to get closer to the festival, but he couldn’t… go in. He couldn’t. He couldn’t, because the music pierced his auditory sensors. It only reminded him of that horrific place that kept him like some toy for five long years. It only reminded him of the hammers, and the cologne, and the thirium, and the tubes, and the lights, and the  _ fucking music. _ The music that would shake the whole building and even make its way into the small glass tubes that held them like merchandise to be purchased for thirty dollars.

He backed away quickly, his processors trying to work in overdrive to come up with  _ any _ solution to this. He had no way to contact Alphonse, and he didn’t think yelling would do anything besides make things worse for him. Loud music  _ and  _ people staring at him? It was a recipe for disaster.

The church. He would go back to the church. He placed a marker in his internal map, running away from the festival immediately.

He paid attention to nothing as he ran. Nothing had any meaning aside from what he  _ needed _ to do. It took a good, long while to get to the church with just running, but within time, he was there. His eyes scanned the inside of the church. While there were some VS400s… none of them had a cheek scar like Alphonse’s. He even checked closely. Their LEDs didn’t even flicker with his.

 

It was a long shot to think Alphonse would be  _ here  _ of all places… but he hoped. He hoped really hard…

 

His LED flickered red quickly as he looked around. His thoughts started to consume him, causing even more panic. What if Alphonse left him behind for a reason? What if he disappeared to get away from Chase? What if Alphonse knew he was lying about not hearing the order? What if Alphonse decided Chase was too much of a burden to keep around?

Chase went upstairs, taking one final look around to see if Alphonse was even remotely in here, and… he wasn’t. The little bit of hope Chase held within his body flooded out as he opened the door to what was his room. He knew what he wanted to do. He was… tired of… being a burden. Alphonse  _ had  _ to have left him for a reason, right? Chase couldn’t even look in the festival because of the loud music, and he knew that, right?

Chase wasn’t mad that Alphonse left him. Hell, maybe he was truly innocent, and… Chase’s hatred for the loud music was what made him a burden  _ this  _ time. Chase looked around the room a bit for… something. He wasn’t sure what he was even looking for. His LED kept flickering red as he looked around monotonously for nothing.

He felt his face start to get wet, and when he touched it, he confirmed it. He was crying.  _ Always… crying… _ Was it right for him to cry though, when he was the one who constantly caused his own sadness? He always spoke against the humans for being the cause of their own sadness, and yet here he was, doing the same thing.

“Fuck..ing… dammit,” Chase softly cried out to himself. He looked towards the mattress a moment, going over to it. The bag of clothes Alphonse gave him still laid gently in the little plastic bag. It was a total of eight shirts. All of them were plain colors aside from one that had a sort of crosshatch pattern running down it. Most had short sleeves, but a couple had long sleeves. He stared at them, tears continuing to go down his cheeks as he did so. He held one of the shirts close, burying his face in it just a moment before placing it back in the bag. He tied it up, holding it close.

He was a little bit shaky, but he’d be okay. He… had to be. For Alphonse.

 

He left the church, and never looked back.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

_ Date: _

_ February 12th, 2039. _

_ 6:18PM _

 

He had been walking alone for almost a month. Day in and out, just walking. He’d rest mode, but even that was pretty rare. He didn’t like… what appeared when his eyes shut. The dreams had only gotten worse since he had left the church behind. The only people he ever really knew… he left them behind. He couldn’t help but wonder if Alphonse missed him. Those thoughts seemed so stupid, though.

He never knew what Alphonse meant when he said he was 'tired of running' back in the boat. After traveling this whole month without him by his side though, all of this running… it had made Chase nothing but exhausted. Exhausted, and refusing to rest mode.

He kept his bag close as his boots sloshed through the melting snow of February. It was brown, and nasty, but there was nothing he could do about that. He wasn’t really cold or anything, but he was tired and alone.

Surprisingly, Wanda had texted him. Constantly. She seemed so worried for him when she hadn’t texted him once the time he was with Alphonse. He always responded, slow and vague about what he was doing. Honestly, he didn’t know what he was doing. Why was he still walking? What could he possibly look for now?

He was a fool, and he knew that. However, the self deprecation didn’t give him any explanations as to what to do with himself. He always resorted to slinging personal attacks at himself instead of suggesting anything of value or worth.

It was already starting to get dark. He never understood why the times changed, but all it did was make night come later. The little sliver of sun that filled the sky with quickly fading light was still on the horizon.

He needed to find yet another place to rest… if possible. He had to rest mode at  _ some  _ point, even if he didn’t want to. If he didn’t, he didn’t know the consequences of excessively ignoring rest mode. It was a time to compile files, so he’d assume those files would delete themselves… or maybe they’d overflow and inevitably break him down into nothingness.

His LED flickered dull yellow, just as it had done constantly since he ran away from there. Bright lights flashed on nearby him, probably triggered by the darkness approaching. He stared up at the lights. Luckily for him, they were plain white lights… no pink. If he hadn’t known any better, he’d even call it lucky. However, it was anything but lucky to be in this situation.

He kept his plastic bag close, slowly skulking closer to the chained fence that separated the world from the lights. He saw little no nothing beyond the fence aside from… trash. Scraps, trash, and just about anything else that humans did not want.

He looked around a bit, placing the straps of the plastic bag on his wrist like a bracelet. He backed up a bit, then jumped onto the fence. His fingers clung to the metal, and he climbed up it. The fence, admittedly, was not very high. However, it was high enough that he had to climb over it.

He tossed his legs over the fence, hands clinging the top of the fence a moment before he let go. His boots made a soft  _ thud  _ as they hit the ground below. He looked around once again, and there were still no humans. The bright lights shined onto the ground and illuminated most of the area. Still, there were patches of darkness that not even lights as bright as these could hope to graze, much less touch.

He slowly walked to one of the patches of darkness, trying to figure out how exactly to rest there. However, something caught his eye while in the spot. It wasn’t too close to the fence, but it was not too far either, so he was unsure how it ended up there.

He gently reached his hand down, picking up the thing that caught his eye. A little bird made out of metal scrap. It seemed… intricate. It was rather small in his hand, and he did not think his hand was too big for a male. It was probably average sized for a male in their mid twenties, if anything. Even though the bird was small, there were tiny details. The wings were decorated with smaller, shinier metals. Same with the feet and tail of the bird. The eyes were little rhinestones. The one on the left side was red and the one on the right side was green. How did this get here?

Suddenly, a soft bang happened, and the echo that sounded after came from behind him. He turned around, yet there was nobody. He tried to scan the area, but shuddered from it. His scanners still were… less than useful. It only scanned a couple meters, if that. What was the point of a couple meters if he could just  _ see  _ that with his eyes? He sighed softly, turning it off.  _ Stupid Traci scanner functions _ .

He slowly went over to the area where the noise came from, and found a ball of scrap metal. He lifted that up as well, looking at it. It wasn’t a perfect sphere, but he doubted it possible without immense pressure being placed down on it. Whatever caused this… it couldn’t cause that sort of pressure. A sudden air pressure rushed up his body from behind, and it gave him the most uneasy feeling. He quickly turned around behind him.

Before he knew it, his hand had gripped onto a big pipe that was trying to hit into him. On the other end of the large pipe was a rather small… person. She had big eyes that were a bright mint, and very long black hair. What caught his eye most was the fact that the hair covered her left eye down to a point. It looked like an upside down tear going from her head to the bottom of the hair. She was a bit chubbier than other androids he had seen, and she wore a… uniform that looked strange to him.

He had seen her before, however. In the church, and in Jericho. She always ran around, and even bumped into him on one occasion. He never got a good look at her besides the hair back then, and her short stature. Though, because he had seen her only at those places, that must mean…

His eyes quickly darted to the right side of her temple. As expected, red flickered underneath the tuft of hair that was on that side of her head. His own LED flickered red as well, but not in time with hers. Of course… not with hers.

“A-Am… S...Sorry…?” the small android spoke slowly, her voice shaky. It was a soft, soothing voice. Whether it was soft or not because of the situation, he did not yet know. He kept his hand on the pipe, even with her own shaky self. If he didn’t meet her this way, the voice would probably even be sweet. Maybe it still could be.

“Why did you try to hit me?” he asked. He tried not to be defensive, even if it was hard. He did not like the idea of being… abused again, especially by his own people.

“T...Tall stranger touch… statues… Those not… yours,” she mumbled in the same shaky voice she had been. “They… are Melissa’s… no touch…”

"Melissa… Who is that?” Chase mumbled, his eyes looking around as he kept a firm grip on the pipe. Was someone else here with them? If there was, he definitely wasn’t safe.

“M...Melissa is… me,” the small android shuddered as she spoke. She tried to force the pipe back, but he continued to hold onto it as firmly as possible. He didn’t know whether she’d try to hit him again or not.

“Why… would you attack me over statues?” he mumbled, keeping his eyes on the other’s exposed eye. He could not even see a hint of the other one under the wave of hair on her left side.

“N-Not only statues!” the android spoke with a bit more force. “S-Scary stranger came… into Melissa’s home! And touch things!” Her voice sounded less mad and more terrified. It probably was scary. She couldn’t be much taller than five feet, and he was six feet tall. A whole foot taller, and he moved around in a place she determined to be… home. Why would she decide to live here, though?

“Why aren’t you at the church?” he mumbled. “It’s more than this place.”

“What… church?” Melissa asked, her eyes wincing in confusion as she tried to take back the pipe a bit more.

“I saw you there,” Chase said, his eyebrows furrowing as he kept his grip on the pipe. “I saw you there… and at Jericho.”

“M-Melissa does not know of a Jericho! Or a church! Melissa knows of… junkyard! Tall stranger in Melissa’s home! T-T...Touching… statues…”

“Let the pipe go,” Chase mumbled, trying not to be too firm with the demand. “There is no reason to hit me. Let it go.”

Melissa’s eye stayed on him, not breaking eye contact for a solid few seconds before letting the pipe go. Her hands quickly go in front of her, in front of her chest in a sort of defensive way to protect herself. Chase kept his eyes on her as he tossed the pipe off to the side. The metal clanked into some more metal, but nothing much happened aside from that.

Melissa’s eye moved a bit, but it only looked lower on his body. He was… confused where she was looking until she came up and tugged on the sleeve of the long coat he wore. “C-Coat!”

“Y-Yes?” Chase asked, watching her little hand continue to tug on his sleeve for no real reason. His LED spiraled yellow as he tried to think of the reasons she could be doing this to him.

"Melissa remember! Remember coat!” she chirped, looking up at him. “Melissa remember… coat! Tall stranger must know of Melissa… Tall stranger… knows something Melissa does not.”

“...” Chase only felt more confusion from her words. Remember the coat? She didn’t even seem to remember Jericho or church; how could she  _ possibly  _ remember the coat he was wearing?

“Tall stranger! What is name?” Melissa asked with a bit of enthusiasm that seemed random. Maybe she could tell now that he was no threat to the junkyard, the statues, or her.

“Chase…” he said. He felt a pang of something in his chest when he said his own name. Some… sort of pang. It made him feel heavier than he was, and it made his eyelids lower a bit automatically.

 

_ It suits you, Chase. It suits you much better than ‘Traci’. _

 

He held the bag he had closer when the voice wrapped around his head like some beautiful yet sad hymn. That voice…

"Chase is good name! Melissa has not heard of name before! Hihi!” Melissa said, continuing to be enthusiastic. Her voice cut off the hymns of voice, so… maybe that was okay.

A part of Chase wanted to ignore the compliment, but another part of him knew this was of his own decision. A consequence of his own making… a prison by his own design… And he just had to live with the resignation of that.

"What… model are you?” Chase asked in a soft mumble.

“Oh! Melissa is… MP200!” Melissa squeaked, as if there was joy in her model number. “Is like… nurse! Squishy and small, to help comfort!” She tilted her head. “What Chase?”

"...HR300.”

"What do?”

“...Just stuff,” he said. Sure, it wasn’t exactly an answer… but he was unsure if he could tell  _ her  _ what he was made to do. Not yet, and maybe not ever. It wasn’t something to really take pride in. It was probably nice to live in a world in which you were made to help people. Where you… mattered.

Chase’s eyes kept on the small android, and he was unsure why he stared. Nothing about her was really something to stare at, besides maybe the hair. Though, the hair already lost his interest. Maybe there was no reason for it being that way, maybe it was. Whether she had that hair before or after all of this was left uncertain unless he asked about it.

Her eye was not really something he’d stare at either for this long. Maybe he was spacing out, which only brought him more panic. Androids don’t… space out. They are always doing  _ something _ . Even rest mode was just prompting the compilation of files into folders…

“Chase do a long stare!” Melissa let out in a soft squeak. “Stare means thinking. Think too hard… Yes, Chase must sleep! Bright circle flashing a whole lot.” She tugged on his sleeve once again. She seemed… friendly now, which still was strange. Now he was unsure if she did it because he was safe, or if it was because of the coat he wore.

She tugged more, leading him deeper into the junkyard. It did not feel safe to go deeper into it, but it would be away from the fence. The fence, admittedly, made him anxious. If a human saw him from behind the fence… he was unsure what he’d do.

He followed her, a bit reluctant on such a thing. However, the prospect of not having to be even close to humans was… a nice thought. Though, the lights that shined down on the junkyard did not make this the most safe place. There were still the dark patches, but they were few and far between considering the density of light that was flashed on the ground.

It made him wonder why there were lights at all in the junkyard. Did humans  _ really  _ want to stare at trash? Was that something they did? He did not believe anyone would logically steal trash. Even this little android… she just made little metallic statues. At least, he assumed so. He had only seen one up until this point, and it was the cute little bird. It was still in his other hand; the one that didn’t have the bag’s handle around his wrist.

She kept looking up at him, as if he’d disappear if she didn’t continuously check on him. That was impossible though, seeing how firmly she had the sleeve in her grip. It was not a death grip, and if he whipped his arm back forcefully, he could run away. Though, he did not expect her to hurt him. Yeah, she tried to smack him with a pipe, but he easily stopped it with his hand.

Once they got to the ‘right place’, she let his sleeve go and looked up at him. “Rest mode needs… safe place. This… Melissa’s safe place. It not great, but it keep Melissa safe. It keep Chase safe too. Please… nobody knows of safe place… Keep a secret, yes? Promise?”

The HR300 looked down at her, nodding a bit. “I promise.”

She bounced a bit on the balls of her feet as she motioned her hands towards the place she spoke of. The blond looked towards it, and it was a car. It made sense, seeing as a lot of cars were in here already. It was  _ most  _ of a car, though. His hand gently touched at the edges of the broken vehicle. It was sharp, so it was no surprise when thirium started to gently drip from his finger.

The pile looked like any normal pile of scrap and metal from the junkyard, so it was rather inconspicuous. There were a couple of covers for car seats draped over the mass of metal. He touched it with the hand that didn’t have thirium on it, and it actually was attached to the metal mass by a couple badly dented nails. When it was moved, it showed way to an entrance into the heap of car.

Inside of the car, it was rather clean. Dangerous because of the loose screws, nails, jutted out metal, and various other things. However, he’d be fine. Not only did he already hurt his finger, but he wouldn’t get anything bad from just getting stabbed by these small objects.

He looked at his finger for a moment, and the bleeding had already subsided. He gently wiped the deep blue blood on his coat. The thirium would disappear soon enough. As a Traci, he knew that better than most. A building splattered in blue remained bright pink, anyway.

The floor was dirt, with a bunch of rags on top of it in mismatched ways. Mismatched enough for him to know the floor was dirt, anyway. He went inside of the hazard box, looking around more. There were two blankets on opposite sides of the broken metal husk of what used to be a car. He gently sat himself down on the blanket closer to the entrance. She seemed too skittish to enjoy the one not far from the entrance. If someone somehow came in, he could be the first one they’d get.

The smaller android went to the other blanket, as he assumed she would. She sat there, watching him with her big eyes. She bounced a moment before picking up something and showing him. It was a metal bunny, just like the bird he had. It had sparkly rhinestones, but they were actually the same color as each other. Honestly, there were multiple tiny metal bunnies laying around the inside of the car husk.

“Melissa likes bunnies,” she said. “Chase like it?”

"It is… pretty. Why do you make these?” he asked, slowly placing the bird piece into his bag. It was probably rude to just take it, but there was an air of importance to the heterochromic bird he had picked up. For one, she didn’t take it back. She tried to beat him with a pipe, but she didn’t try to take back the bird after the fact. At any point, she could have snatched it back or whined that it was kept with the stranger.

Melissa hummed, not answering his question. She moved the bunny in her hands a bit, as if it was bouncing around. The blond could not even begin to think of why an android would have such an… imagination. Even caretaker androids wouldn't do this unless a child was around, but here she was… bouncing a metal statue.

His eyes started to shut, losing the ability to pay attention to the small android and her seemingly playful disposition. He needed to rest mode, anyway. It was easier for both her and himself if he just rested.

And he did. For hours and hours until the sun rose once again on Detroit. Surprisingly for himself, no thoughts entered his systems while he was resting. Surprising, seeing as that all that went through his mind normally.

When his eyes opened, he saw the smaller android close to him. She was not in rest mode. In fact, her eye was pretty wide open, staring at him as intensely as possible. It was pretty… unnerving to just watch her staring at him as if he was some stranger who broke in.

“Who?” her voice shook. “When did... get in? Please… no hurt Melissa.” Her head tilted slightly to the side. Her hair flopped over to the side as well, but it did not uncover her covered eye.

Chase tried to think of what he could possibly say to her, honestly confused of her disposition towards him. Then, the realization hit him at the most random moment. Rest mode. He wondered what happened to androids when they didn’t rest mode… and just maybe, this was his answer. She did not seem like the kind of android to rest, but that was all just an assumption. An assumption he could not ask her about, seeing how she seemed to forget who he was.

Another idea hit him almost as quick as the realization. He opened his bag a bit, and pulled out the heterochromic bird before showing it to her. She reached forward, snatching it quickly before backing away like a squirrel taking food from a human’s hand. She twisted and turned the bird around, her eye looking over the small statue intently for a few long seconds. She looked back at the blond. “How long… has stranger known Melissa?”

"Literally just last night,” Chase said, looking at his internal clock. “About eight hours ago.”

"And… stranger didn’t hurt Melissa?” she asked, seeming to look over herself while continuing to hold the bird close.

"No. Infact, you’re the one who tried to hurt me,” Chase very softly laughed, “with a large pipe.”

"With… large… pipe,” Melissa repeated slowly, as if tasting the words on her mechanical tongue. She looked at the ground a few moments before nodding and giving the bird back to the other android. “Melissa believes… stranger for now.”

He gently took the bird, placing it back into his plastic bag. He stared at the bag a few moments, staring at the faded name of the place the shirts were bought from. He looked back at the smaller android, who finally stopped staring at him like he had a gun to her head.

“...I should get going,” Chase said, looking outside of the broken car a bit. The sun was out, as he already assumed a bit ago. Nobody was outside in the junkyard, thankfully. Just more trash and metal.

“Where going?” Melissa asked, tilting her head. “Does stranger not want to stay here?”

“I… am not sure where I want to go,” is all he really said about the situation. It was the truth, at the very least. He didn’t know where he was going, or what he even wanted. He went this far, and yet he didn’t even know the destination. He had no goal, and no destination… he was just wandering for nothing. He did the same thing during the uprising, but at least he had orders to follow. Now, he had nothing but himself and a bag of shirts.

“Mhm… Melissa should go with tall stranger,” Melissa said with a soft chirp in her voice. “To protect! They will do a big hurt of the stranger unless Melissa keeps him safe!”

“Chase,” he introduced again, slowly crawling out of the car. “My name is Chase.”

“Melissa protect Chase!” the small android corrected as she left the vehicle. She sort of popped up like an overactive weasel. She shook her head really fast a moment before stopping. Her hair shuffled with the head movement before going back to a static placement.

“Thank you, Melissa,” Chase replied, not fighting against her words. She  _ did _ try to hit him with a large pipe just because he picked up a statue. “We should get going. The lighter it gets, the more humans are out.”

Melissa puffed her cheeks a moment before ceasing. “Why Chase go out when it light then?”

"I rest mode at night,” the HR300 said, going towards the chained gate.  _ Sometimes _ , he wanted to say. It would probably be stupid to tell the other android that he only sometimes went into rest mode, though. She’s probably ask why, and there was no way he could logically explain to her that he had… nightmares. Androids weren’t even supposed to have dreams, much less the more horrific variant.

“Chase sleeps a lot?” she asked, following him with minimal reluctance. Honestly, it was a surprise considering she seemed against the idea of going out during the day.

“Yeah?” Chase questioned even within his own lie. “Don’t you?” He wanted to know if there was a connection between rest mode and the way she lost her memory. It felt… weird to just have that sort of thing.

“Melissa does not like sleep,” she said with a bit of seriousness in her voice. “Sleep means Melissa is alone! Someone could break in and hurt Melissa!” She held her hands together in front of her chest a moment. “More reason to protect Chase! He can’t be on guard when he sleep!”

"So you don’t rest mode?” he asked. ”Wouldn’t that be bad for your files? They’d overflow, and--”

“Melissa is fine! Melissa focus on protecting Chase from the bad guys now,” she said quickly, as if to change the subject. Whether she did it on purpose or not was a mystery. Did she know she was only harming herself by not entering rest mode? Was she truly oblivious to her own actions? He silently walked after nodding a bit, not outwardly reacting as she held his hand aside from holding it in return.

 

It felt nice to hold someone’s hand again, though.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

_ Date: _

_ March 27th, 2039. _

_ 3:17PM _

 

The HR300 had been walking for so long, once again to who knows where. Though, now he had a partner. He didn’t find her as comforting to be around as Alphonse was, but she wasn’t meant to be a replacement for the VS400. She came because she wanted to, without him asking. She wasn’t a bother… but she wasn’t as comforting or relaxing.

She always walked close to him, holding his hand. Sometimes she swung their hands like a child would with their parent, and sometimes she kept their hands in place. Sometimes she rose their hands up as high as she could reach, and sometimes she played with Chase’s hand. He didn’t really mind what she did with it, seeing as anything she did with it was better than it could do normally.

The weather… it was something Chase had never experienced. It was getting warmer, and snow appeared less and less. This was different from the winter that would hit him with blizzards that forced him… and the ones he traveled with, into places to hide. He was unsure if Melissa had an internal heater, so he would just hug her during blizzards and turn his heaters up. It was another thing that just reminded him of… the brunette man.

However, the blizzards and snowstorms seemed less and less as time progressed. Seasons… that Chase had never seen with his own eyes. Or maybe he did, but it was just one of those things that was forcibly erased from his systems.

Soon enough, Chase would finally have to wear the shirts. The shirts that Alphonse had bought for him so he wouldn’t overheat in warmer weather. It always made him grip his plastic bag closer to his body to think about it. The bag survived through so much… and it really shouldn’t have.

The little bird statue remained the same as the day he picked it up, and Melissa had let him keep it. He showed her it every day when she forgot, until he finally got tired of it.

“Melissa, you don’t like rest mode, right?” he had asked maybe a couple weeks ago. “It makes you scared?”

"No like the vulnerability,” Melissa had said, puffing up her cheeks in a pout a moment before looking elsewhere with her minimal attention span.

“So you watch me rest mode?” he had asked.

“I make sure Chase is safe!” she had chirped while looking up at him. “If Melissa watches, nobody can attack!”

"Then why don’t I just watch you?” he had questioned. “If I watched you, then nobody could--”

Before he could finish, however, she shook her head quickly. “Nonono! Chase needs to sleep!” She seemed worried enough, but the worry didn’t really make him stop questioning things about her. He wanted her to be able to remember stuff at least once.

“Then why don’t we  _ both _ rest mode?” he had sighed. “You rest, and I rest. We’d both be protecting each other, right? I’d pay attention for you, and you’d do the same for me. Sounds good, right?” It felt like he was trying to advertise android rights to a human. Wait.

“Would not make sense though,” Melissa said in a soft whine. “You no watch, and I can no watch!”

“Of course we can. We’re androids. We care about each other, right?” he had suggested to her. “The whole reason you came with was because you wanted to protect me. Let me do the same for you. We’re pretty smart. If we weren’t, we’d already be dead.”

“Melissa supposes Chase is right…” she had said, nodding while bouncing a bit. “Very alive! Yes.”

“Yes.”

From that night onwards, they had ‘slept’ together. Honestly, Chase probably focused a little  _ too  _ much on making sure the smaller android fell asleep. It was worth it though, just for the fact that it was a relief to not have to introduce himself for the twentieth time. It got beyond annoying to have to tell Melissa once again that he was Chase, the same man who had spent time with her walking around Detroit aimlessly. Yes, he did have the bird statue, so that definitely meant he knew her. How long? Over a month.

The forgetting stopped though, and that was nice.

They were on the rooftops. His reasoning was simply “no humans could get up there”. It was such a ache to say that, because it only reminded him of the fire escape. She seemed happy to just hop on a rooftop… way too happy. It seemed so easy to trick her if he just said something that benefitted her even a little. Well, it wasn’t like he was trying to hurt  _ her  _ with the rooftop suggestion.

Honestly, he had about enough. This was the consequences of his own making, but he had about enough of this. Enough of being alone… enough of traveling with no destination… He thought he could do things alone for the brunette’s sake, but it felt like too much. This deviancy… if he was  _ truly _ a deviant… then hell, he felt a lot, and he hated it. He had no words to describe what he felt, and he didn’t feel like Melissa would know either.

He kept an eye on her, making sure she didn’t fall off the rooftop or anything. “Hey, Melissa?"

“Yesyes?” she chirped, looking over at him.

“You know how to get down, right?” he asked, staring off somewhere else. He was not entirely sure what he was looking for, or trying to see. There seemed to be nothing, almost as if he had tunnel vision.

"Ah, yesyes. Melissa just climb down!” she chirped. She even clapped, he assumed. At least, that is what it sounded like. He didn’t exactly look at her or anything.

“Ah. Good,” Chase mumbled, his hazel eyes looking forward still. He kept the bag close, the straps still wrapped around his wrist.

 

Then he closed his eyes and jumped off the roof.

 

…

..

.

It was rather silent for what felt like an eternity. He heard Melissa yell from the rooftop though. “CHASE CAN’T FLY!”

He probably would have found it funny if it weren’t for the fact that he crashed into something soft. He sort of wanted to crash into something harder than this, but obviously, the plans had changed.

"Holy  _ fuck _ !” he also heard, but it did not sound like Melissa.

He tried opening his eyes, and it felt so laggy and slow. That made sense, however. Anything other than  _ that  _ would be out of the ordinary.

“Are you alright?” another voice asked.

When his eyes opened, he was face to face with two people he did not know. One was obviously an android with an LED on their temple, but the other…

Chase’s eyes widen, and his LED flickered red quickly.

Human. Female. A female human, a… a human… that was a female… a…

He snapped himself out of it quickly, his eyes wincing as he tried to calm himself. He was in such danger just from  _ her _ being around. “W...Who are you two?”

“Are you sure you aren’t broken?! You shouldn’t be asking about us when you fell from the sky!” the woman said, as if already exasperated from him. Her voice had an accent that wasn’t familiar to him, yet also was. It was soft, yet had care placed into it. She had… just the biggest hair. A huge, curled, and messy pile of redish orange. It was less like waves and more like a mound of hair. Freckles were splattered across her face in such a messy fashion. Everything about her seemed so messy aside from her eyes, though, he was unsure what color they were. They looked amberish, yet orange, yet also just brown… She had on a flannel shirt that buttoned  _ surprisingly  _ neatly down her body.

The android, an obvious WR600, spoke as well. “I am Ryker, and this is… Miss Emma Ibori. You look undamaged,” they said. “You weren’t trying to self destruct, right?” They looked like a standard WR600, aside from the longer hair that remained in a ponytail. And unlike most androids Chase has seen up to this point, they had a floral shirt underneath a gray overshirt. Their voice was soothing, much more so than the woman’s, anyway. They didn't get loud.

Ryker and Emma… He had seen Ryker before, just like he had seen Melissa. In the boat… and in the church. Though, like Melissa, he does not remember seeing the WR600 after the uprising.

“No, I didn’t try to self destruct,” he said.

 

Another big lie under his belt. At least it wasn’t someone he cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the twelfth chapter of "You're Free, Follow Me"! ^^
> 
> These OCs are still owned by people (oh rA9, I know)  
> Alphonse and Hannah are owned by @rk800-52/@Sorceringing on Tumblr! (Omii is precious, and makes great art!)  
> Wanda is owned by @suolasirotin on Tumblr! (Cio is the sweetest, and makes great art).  
> Melissa is owned by @thenervousmedic on Tumblr! (softest bean I would fight)  
> Emma is owned by @thewitchfall on Tumblr! (she edits all of these, so please give her love. she also writes the the main Garden in Detroit stories)  
> Ryker is owned by @popsicletheduck on Tumblr! (they are a good person who writes many things!)
> 
> Remember, if you ever like any of the "A Garden in Detroit" series, please join our Discord!
> 
> [A Garden In Detroit Discord](https://discord.gg/bypq6KJ)
> 
> And if you like DBH fanfics in general, please join the "Yellow LED" Discord!
> 
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